Ha--ha....I live on the Washington coast. We usually have 3-5 power outages every year...especially during the winter storm season...so, last year, I bought a decent (small) 3650 watt inverter generator to run some of the essentials. (pellet stove, some lights, refrigerator, etc.) Since I got it, we've had 4 storms with winds over 50 mph...no power outages. I think that generator was good power outage insurance!
Same here. After the freeze a year ago we had 3 multi hour power outages. After we got the generator we had one that lasted an hour.
Actually had a similar sized portable generator during the freeze last year. Picked it up after hurricane Ike back in 2008. Got tired of having to run out and get gas for it before each storm and remembering to test it every couple of months. During the freeze the carbuerator gummed up and I spent 3 hours in 20F temps changing it out. Plus I had to run the cords under the garage door and through the utility room door to get power into the house. Even with a couple of space heaters and a fireplace the interior of the house dropped into the 40's over the 3 days of the freeze.
The generac is hooked up to natural gas, has an automatic transfer switch, can run the whole house including the AC & furnace, and it tests itself once a week. If it has problem it'll send us a message asking for service.
My father-in-law just got a portable dual fuel generator and had an electrician install a manual transfer switch. So he can keep his fridge, freezer and gas furnace running while they come over to our place if we are going to be without power for an extended period.
If you can't tell we have no confidence the Texas grid won't crash again during another hard freeze.