I really wish I'd had the money to get the generator with no tax. I really want a natural gas run one but that's not happening anytime soon

@Floyd
It is a Generac. They make whole house models. I had one of those at my other house. Will eventuately do that later here but for now went with a portable one.

One thing you may not know is these house generators are meant to power your house during intermitten power outtages. They aren't designed to run for days on end without interruption. Running one of these generators all the time like the outtage during Ike when we were without power for two weeks is not recommended. You're suppose to change the oil every 200 hours or two years. It only takes 8 1/2 days to get to that point with the generator running non-stop. The generators are spec'd to run about 100 hours a year. Obviously they can do more but the life of the generator goes down with increased demand.

@Jevans
Very good point. Portable are not designed for continuous use. During Alicia in 83 we used portables for about 10 hours a day to keep the fridges running and make ice.

We have a small one and a bigger portable. We got the portable for the a/c and a small tv that we were able to use because it had rabbit ears. We kept the refrigerator going but used a ice chest for things in and out quickly. The new ice chest that holds ice for 5 days is a must this year. However, if we have a hurricane, I'm heading to Big D!

@SmokeybearThat's what I want to look into, permanent full house models, natural gas fueled to kick in when the power goes out. I've looked into it but you can never find a price listed without speaking to a salesman...

@Floyd No, you can't and once the salesman comes in he starts to throw "discounts" like if you sign up now you'll get this and that for free and makes you feel like you're gonna lose something if you don't sign up. That's what happened to us. We had 2-3 scheduled but signed up with the first one because he gave us like $5K in savings + 0% APR
I would've gotten more offers but my hubs didn't want to sit through another pitch.

@TXNS_fanThat's how I am, not a big fan of sitting through those sales pitches. I just wish they had more info available publicly to start your search a little more informed.