I am not the electrician type but i have a little experience with this.
When I built my shop an electrician ran 270' of 4 gauge wire out to supply 100 amp service in my shop. they told me with the distance in reality i probably have about 60 amp service.
I have a miller 180 which is a 220V unit. It is on a 30 amp breaker and works great. I bought a 50' extension cord for the welder so I can use it anywhere in the shop and even out side. The ext cord was $100 and it is 8 ga wire.
If you are looking for something easy to use, you cant go wrong with a MIG IMO. The auto set 180 I am using is idiot proof (perfect for me). I look for things to do with it, and I have welded 5/16" to 22 gauge with good results.
Anytime there is a welding thread there is alway the "take a class advice", in a perfect world that would be great, but if you are just doing homeowner or farm type welding that seems to be overkill, and if I have to take a class to use a tool, I probably am not going to have it.
There will be a lot of people that tell you a mig is not a real welder capable of anything other that making crafts. I bought mine at a reputable welding supply stor. The man I dealt with has been welding for 25+ years. He said MIG welders "ruined" the welding trade. He said it made welding so easy, anyone could do it. I suspect that is where a lot of the venom toward MIGS comes from..... He sure recommended it to me and I am happy with it.
-Keith