It is true that a small gen won't give you auto-start, for that you do have to go with a permanently mounted generator. Either LP on natural gas is your only choice, diesels are just too expensive. LP generators use a fair amount of fuel, you may need to run a larger tank. The plus with the LP is that the fuel won't go bad being unused. About a 1 1/2 yrs ago I installed a Briggs 7K unit for a friend of mine, although not quite by any means, it starts every week religiously to exercize. The Guardian will do the same. My only concern is that Generac has been changing the Guardian line often over the past few years, and the common concern is if parts will always be available. Most of my portables have been made by Generac, but since they sold off their small gen line to B&S;the future of parts availabilty is uncertain. Generac has been bugging me over the past 2 yrs to carry their line, but I haven't committed yet. If I did I would be stuck with a lot of them right now.