I’m botching the terminology. And I’m modest in what I’m trying to power.
I’m talking about wiring this into a 30 amp breaker in the electrical panel and hooking it up to a generator:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Reliance-Controls-30-Amp-Power-Inlet-Box-PB30/202213702
And had a friend spend less than an hour helping hook it up so didn’t have labor costs, but I was $930 all-in on parts/materials with a 5,500 watt champion generator driving $730 of that. This was a year ago. (About a month before the ice storm)
yes, you have to get out in the cold and flip all of the breakers and hook/start up the generator. Felt that was worth it vs the exponentially higher cost of a more automatic solution.
I have a ~1,500 sq ft home. That size generator won’t completely power the entire house, but will handle just about everything on at once other than the oven and microwave (range and water heater are gas)