Bumping to keep from archiving as I get this thing up and running.
Bought two yellow jacket 12/3 cords from Sam's just in case, right before this last ice storm.
The cords are only 15 A though.
Seems like I would need 20 A cords for the fridge or even space heaters. Those things pull some juice.
Ended up not needing the generator, so that gives me a bit more time to get my ducks in a row.
Will get photos inside the outer breaker panel soon. I got some new info about that breaker setup.
HVAC guy (Hal) says the unit outside only needs the 30 amp breaker.
He thinks the 100 Amp breaker down there with the 30 is one they stuck in to fill the hole.
This makes sense, since when we wired the house, we put in the 200, and I had the old 100 on hand. I have some small niggle of memory that I had them just stick the 100 in there for "later" when I wired an outbuilding. I never did wire an outbuilding, so there it sits, filling a hole and confusing the hell out of everyone.
Pics to come of under the panel front once the weather allows me to take that panel cover off.