[jyl]

Suppose you got a small portable generator (2000 to 5000 watt), and want to run the key stuff during a 12 hour to 2 day power outage: furnace (mine is gas with electric blower), water heater (ditto), cable modem, wifi. I don’t consider the fridge a key thing, and the freezer stays adequately cold for a couple days. I don’t need to light the house during power outages, with LED flashlights so long-lasting now.

Would the best (easiest, cheap, but safe) way be to run a subpanel with transfer switch, wire that key stuff to the subpanel, and power just that subpanel from the generator?

I’m not talking a whole house generator - this is for an urban house, we get outages of 12 hours to 2-3 days, but only every few years. 12 hours is NBD (flashlights, fireplace, candles, blankies, hot chocolate from the gas range). 2 days gets weariesome, and cold.