You're much better off to run the furnace (typically about 800
watts) than a couple space heaters (1500 watts each). The furnace
heats the entire house, the space heaters maybe a room, if you're
lucky. Gasoline will be unavailable until the power comes back.
The furnace will also use less gas than the space heater. An
electrician, or a HVAC guy can show you how to wire a generator
into the furnace. Just needs an electrical cord cut off something
or other, a screw driver, and a couple wire nuts.

Any brand of generator will work several dozen times. Honda has a
reputation of being the quietest, and longest lasting and most
dependable. If you're comfortable with mixing gas and oil, you
can get a small two cycle generator off Ebay for about $150 or
so. I bought an ETQ, and it runs a 700 watt toaster with no
problem at all. That was my test, for the generator. See if I
could run a toaster. Should run a furnace.

My Dad's Coleman 5,000 watt is noisy enough to need ear plugs if
you're standing next to it for more than a minute or two. The
ETQ, I could tell it was running, but it really amazed me how
quiet. Hondas also tend to be very very quiet.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Abe" wrote in message
news
As many of you have probably heard on the news, the Pacific NW
was
recently hit by huge long-lasting power outages due to weather.
I was
one of those affected. To be prepared for next time, I want to
buy a
generator that can power either my furnace or a couple of space
heaters, and four 23 watt compact fluorescent lights.

I'll figure out the exact capacity I need later, but I was
wondering
about brands for now. Which are the good ones to look at?