My backup generator is not permanently attached and won't run the WHOLE house at once - but will run the basics - furnace, lights, microwave, even the kitchen stove if nothing other than lights are on with it. Helps we are almost 100% LED for lighting. I need to pull it out of the shed and plug it into the house (and flip the interlock switch) when it is needed It will run on gasoline, Propane at about 80%, and Natural gas at closer to 70% power. For long term outages I would have to ration the power a bit and run on natural gas. I keep 2 20 lb propane tanks around and usually also keep about 20 gallons of gasoline - enough to run a couple days of full power requirements if necessary. I don't have the gasoline this year because I can't handle the cans after my back surgery - and I'm not running my snow blower for the same reason (I used to blow a lot of the neighbour's snow too) - so I'm HOPING we don't have an outage this winter ____