What should my house insurance deductible be?

In his book, Insurance for Dummies, Jack Hungelmann says this:
 
It’s been my experience that the average home property claim occurs once every seven to ten years. My advice is to pick the deductible that has a seven- or eight-year payback period. You determine that by dividing the extra risk of a higher deductible by the annual savings. If you can recoup, in premium savings, the added risk in eight years or less, pick the higher deductible. Remember the payback period is the result of dividing the difference in deductibles by the difference in premiums.

So, if you could save $200 per year on your house insurance premium by raising your deductible by $1,000 then it is probably worth it to go ahead and take the higher deductible.  If, however, you were to only save $50 per year then it would not be a good decision to go with the higher deductible.  It would take you 20 years to recoup the difference in deductibles with the premium you would be saving.  Chances are, you'll have some claim between now and then, and you'll wish that you had been paying the extra couple of bucks a month.  

The key really is - How much would it hurt?  If you drove in your driveway to a completely demolished house and you had to pay a certain amount out of pocket, what could you afford?  Could you afford $250 out of pocket? $1000...$5000?  Everyone is different, but your deductible should be as high as your could tolerate, but no more.  When you're getting house insurance quotes, be sure that you don't under or over-insure yourself.