When I moved to the boonies 26 years ago, I kid that if there was a heavy dew the power would go out. Over the years the power company has cleared lines through trees and moved some, resulting in better service. Still, winds, ice will bring lines down. I bought a 14 KW standby unit and wired it up. It runs on LP, is automatic with a transfer switch, and pretty much powers the house. Now we have water, heat, and freezer/refrigerator, lights and outlets; not everything, but each room has lights and some outlets. The longest it has run is about 6 hours and it has run 3-4 times each year. Power company response time is usually about 2 hours so that has been the norm the last few times. Before I got this unit I had a 4KW portable generator. It worked, but by the time I got it out, hooked it up to the panel, shut off the main breaker and got it started it would only run about an hour before I had to reverse the procedure.