I used to wire for a living and you want to go with the transfer around here they are standard equipment put in by the power suppliers for their safety and yours.  If you have a small tractor sitting around in the winter buy a PTO  generator rated at 20-24 k and will be the best investment you ever made. I only say that because generator-motor sometimes sit along time and when you need them motors will not run, because of bad fuel or some other little critters.  You can get good buys on them from Northern Tool and such.  Low voltage is the biggest killer of appliances just as bad as high.  When you sent up get a good little meter make sure and check voltages.  You want 240-250 unloaded voltage, because when you load it and it will drop so if you start 220 then you are low.  I am talking line to line voltage, line to neutral or ground as some say would be 120-125.  With the PTO generators they have a gauge check it to your meter find where you want to run it and mark it(sharpy), so in a storm you hook up run up to the mark and throw the transfer, I would shut off about half the stuff at the panel in your house and stagger it back on, so you don't get a spike or low, when it has been off for a few hours everything wants to run, once you get it on and everything caught up it will not take as much to maintain.   Any questions ask I try not to talk to many technical term to confuse.  I had a country business so I have done many many of these in good weather and storms.  Brent