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There are two ways to get power from an emergency generator fed to appliances that need to be run during a power outage. The first is to run multiple cables from the generator to each appliance, which is cumbersome, requires running cables all over the place - leaving more things to trip on in the dark. The second is to feed the generator output to the home wiring. I've seen this done by back-feeding the generator 240V/30A output to the home wiring through the dryer socket after switching the main breaker off. Back-feeding is completely illegal, and very unsafe - especially for linesmen working on downed utility lines. The correct and safe way to connect an emergency generator to home wiring is through a transfer switch. The Reliance Controls 31406/30306 LOAD-SIDE transfer switch was perfect to connect our DuroMax XP4400E 3600 watt generator to our home wiring. The transfer switch can support up to 6 circuits (labeled A-F), two of which are 20 Amp (C & D), and the others are 15 Amp, and generator output of up to 7500 watt. Circuits A-C are on one 120V leg of the 240V generator output, while D-F are on the other. You can probably use generators with higher output, as long as your appliances do not draw MORE than 7500 watts. The transfer switch comes pre-wired with a single neutral (10 gauge wire), single ground (10 gauge wire), and six pairs of red/black wires (12 gauge) that run to each of the switches/breakers on the transfer switch. The two wires in each set are labeled with the identity of the circuit, i.e. red and black wires labeled "A" connect to circuit A on the transfer panel. Connecting the panel to the main electrical panel is very, very easy - requiring just three steps. Make sure you turn your main breaker off before connecting the transfer switch to the main panel as described below: a) Remove the cover off the main electrical panel, and feed the transfer switch wires to the main panel through a cut-out on the main panel. b) Cut the neutral wire (white) to a suitable length and connect it to the neutral bar in the main panel. c) Connect the ground wire (green) to the ground bar in the main panel. Now, identify the circuits that you wish to be used with emergency power from the generator, and decide which transfer panel switch to connect each of these circuits to. Keep in mind that a 20 Amp circuit on the main panel can only be connected to a 20 Amp breaker on the transfer panel, but a 15 Amp circuit on the main panel can be connected to either a 20 Amp or 15 Amp breaker on the transfer panel. Once the circuits are identified, you can continue - but make sure that you only work on one circuit at a time: d) Disconnect the black wire from the desired circuit breaker on your main panel, and connect it to the black wire from the appropriate switch (eg. "A") on the transfer panel using a YELLOW wire connector. e) Now, connect the red wire from the same switch ("A" in this example) to the main panel breaker that you disconnected in step "d". Repeat for each of the five other switches on the transfer switch and the five breakers you selected on the main electrical panel. Put the cover back on the main panel, flip the breakers on the main panel back on, and you're done! Each switch on the transfer panel has three positions: 1) Generator 2) Off 3) Line Because this is a load-side transfer switch, when the switch is in line mode, the circuit is connected to power from the utility through the appropriate breaker on the main panel. In the generator position, the circuit is connected to power from the generator, using the appropriate breaker on the transfer panel. In the off position, the circuit is disconnected from both the utility and generator feeds. The load-side design completely isolates the utility and generator sides of each circuit. When using the generator, you do not have to turn off the main breaker on the main panel, or even the breakers for the circuits fed by the generator. When utility power is restored, the switch can be flipped from the generator to the line position without any danger of a back-feed to the generator, which can cause it to break and potentially explode. The transfer panel can be directly wired with a plug for a L14-30 outlet from the generator (see the pictures), and comes with wattmeters to ensure that both 120V legs from the 240V generator output are used equally. Circuits C & D on the transfer panel can be used together for 240V/30A output to an appliance if necessary. The main panel in our house is flush mounted in the garage. Reliance Controls sells a flush mount kit (part # KF06) to flush mount the 31406/30406, and attach it to a stud. Flush mounting the 31406/30406 in the drywall took me longer than making all the connections in the main panel - but over all the entire process only took 2.5 hours. Following the instructions that come with the transfer switch makes the process very simple for any DIYer.