Anybody use a generator?

[denton]

If you turn off the top breaker on your breaker panel, you are disconnected from the power company. You can then hook the 240 volt outlet of your generator, via male/male "suicide cord", to a 240 volt outlet in your house, and power your whole house, provided you do not exceed the current rating for the circuit you plug in through.

It's called a "suicide cord" for a good reason: You have to do things in the right order, else you will kill yourself. First, pop the top breaker, then plug in both ends of the cord, and only then, start your generator.

If you want to run a pump, or other "high load" device, you definitely need a generator. If you're only going to watch some TV, or need a reading lamp, then use an RV battery, and about a 700 watt inverter. My whole 35" TV and sattelite dish draws 9 amps from the battery, so a 120 amp-hour battery will carry that load for quite a while.