If I were doing things over, I'd have gotten a Generac unit, and it would have to be a propane one since I'm out in the sticks with no natural gas anywhere close. Having said that, our outages are usually brief, the result of a thunderstorm and are more of a temporary nuisance than anything else. About every 15-20 years we'll have an ice storm that knocks out the power for several days. Our electric lines aren't hard to get to, so usually it doesn't take a week or more to fix them, as is the case in some areas around these parts.
About 10 years ago, Tractor Supply put my generator, a Briggs&Stratton, 8000 running watts, 13,500 startup, on sale, and at the same time I had a 15% discount card, so I got it at a good price. I probably have around a $1000-1100 in the generator and the disconnect box. So, I can live with having to drag it out and hook it up every few years, even if only for a few hours. Having to keep a supply of gas is the only issue. I remedy that by using Sta-Bil in the gas that's in the tank, and in the winter I keep 15 gallons of gas in 5 gallon jugs with Sta-Bil. In addition, I keep my hunting truck filled up, even though I rarely drive it. So, I'll have 35 gallons of gas available if anything happens. That's not a lot if the power was off was an extended period, but for a 3 or 4 day situation, it'll work.
