Where in NWI did you lose power?
Why run the genny though the night? Not hot enough for A/c or cold enough for heat. Keep the fridge door closed and don't flush until needed.
That way you don't have to stand guard and you can get some sleep yourself.
Installing a 17 kW propane powered generator with an automatic transfer switch at my in-laws this weekend. By my calculations, it's overkill, but based on various internet calculators, it's undersized. Of course the interweb calculators are provide by purveyors of backup generators. Go figure.
We've had portable 6k generator with a manual transfer switch there since we built the place, but fil isn't as nimble as he was 8 years ago. Getting the generator wheeled out and started it difficult for him in good weather.
I was afraid my fathe-in-law 's generator would disappear when we were borrowing it years ago.. So when I was finally able to afford one I installed it in my garage & with a few breakers switched around I'm able to pwr the whole house if need be. Pwr left us in May for about 5 days & I ended up sharing with the neighbors on both sides of me. Ran during day & shut down at night to save fuel. One thing I need to stress is to make sure you isolate your house from the grid so you don't create a safety issue for workers trying to get pwr back on!