I am building a house as we speak. This is what I am doing:

- Additional panel that switches over and powers a portion of the house
- Yet to be decided: "auto switchover and generator that autostarts", or
"manual switchover and generator htat needs to be kicked".
- Propane powered generator (500 gallon tank of propane feeds our heating -
this is rural so no natural gas, plus I like the independence)
- A big UPS for the X10 controller, fridge, and a light in each room
- Ham radio (VA3MVW) for comms

Michael