After going through 5 days of no electricity from Hurricane Sandy and having a 1yr old come down woth a cold at the same time, I've decided to start researching into getting a generator that will power some appliances and my furnace. I have a Coleman echelon 9.c that was installed about a month ago. I'm thinking of having a direct connection to to the generator through the house breaker panel. I'm considering using one of these Interlock Kit (interlockkit.com). My question is what would be a good generator or what specification should I look for to be able to run the furnace? I'm considering both a propane or gas generator.

Thanks for you help!