For all you guys out there, have a good one!

I got Don a generator at last. It's not a super fancy sort, just a small
one. 3,500 watt 6.5HP unit made by 'All Power'. Don's thinking of building
a small shed for it in the back yard. (pour a base, use well vented sides
and a hinged top that can be opened to refill it through).

It should be able to run the freezer, a small TV, and a DVD player. In
winter, if it was real cold, the freezer would hold on it's own and a garage
heater would run off it to protect the pipes.

No intention to plug it to the house power with a transfer switch. It's not
really a powerful enough unit for that. For now, it's sitting on the back
porch (a 44x13ft open screened place - possibly not far enough to run it
there, I think they recommend at least 15 feet but we'll read up on it).