We also have a few hundred watts of solar panels and batteries, enough to keep the cell phones and radios charged, and the internet running if it's still up.
Over the years I've grown wary of inexpensive inverters that "run warm" and otherwise misbehave. If you can afford a Prius you can probably afford a good inverter. We happen to have one from Victron Energy. This is not an advertisement -- there are other good quality inverters that won't release the magic smoke or refuse to start just when you need them the most. Cheap inverters seem to be a lot like computer printers in that way. They seem to have a built in "critical need detector."
I grew up in a family that didn't consider refrigerators necessities. The adults had never really left the icebox era in the way they managed their pantries. When they were growing up if the ice man didn't come, or you couldn't pay him, then oh well. When I was a kid the longest we went without a refrigerator was about a year, and I frequently lived without a refrigerator when I was feral young adult.
My wife and I are a mostly vegetarian household. My wife is vegetarian approaching vegan, so we never have any expensive meat or dairy products in the fridge. In a disaster this reduces our household's electricity needs considerably.
= new reply since forum marked as read
