there is this "thing" my neighbor told me about it....it plugs into your meter box prior to the meter. Your electric company is thus involved, however it's a safe alternative. Then you just plug your generator in the "sleeve" attachment(30amp)so it will not necessarily run the whole house, however will do quite nicely in a pinch.....as I recall it's somewhat picky as to which generators it will accept....I think that has something to do with the quality of the power being produced. It's "make shift" when compared to the whole house thing, however does provide an alternative, if you can't afford the whole house thing.
can't remember the name....
:-)Rocky