generator for home backup

And for the sake of safety...........OPEN MAIN BREAKERS so whatever you do you are separated from the AC system

What gen. Do you have? What type of connection is on the house. It can and does work but you may need some rewiring or a cord constructed. If you've got a 4000 watt gen you can't use the whole output with a regular old extension cord.

It depends what has been done to make your house ready for attaching a generator. If it is ready for a 240 volt genset, then you'll have to have an electrician change that to the appropriate 120 volt connection. In that case there might be a fair bit of work to re-wire whatever genset panel or transfer switch you have. Hopefully not a big deal.

If your house is set up for a 120 volt genset, then you just need to have the right connections and an understanding of what is happening on the house side. The biggest question being, is there a transfer switch or other genset panel in the house?

When we have a power failure I just run a real heavy extension cord from the Motor Home Generator thru a house window and plug in to a out let strip and run the freezer and refrigerator, and some times the TV and a lamp. Works good, if I plug in too much it kicks the breaker on the generator.

Make & respect the dead man cord. Be sure consumption does not exceed your genny. We run the Honda EU 1000 for the tele with a cord from outside. Outages are not long here

Other than possibly making a 'dead man cord' to do that, I don't see a problem.