[Belkin]

I agree with Siksukr. It is best to power your whole panel. We used an electrician to install an interlock. You can not turn on the breakers for the generator unless you turn off the main. This ensures that you do not back feed the power lines. When using it, we start off by turning off all of the breakers. Then we turn on the ones we need (heat, water, fridge, etc.) taking care not to exceed the limit of the generator. This gives you complete flexibility since you can turn on any circuit you want. Some friends of ours have a six circuit transfer switch and they end up running extension cords all over the house to keep the lights on. With the whole panel interlock, you can turn on as many breakers as you want provided you watch the total power.