Resilience Assessment & Prioritized Roadmap
Executive summary
A capable, skilled household with a deliberate resilience strategy built around mobility rather than fixed-home backup. A fully-equipped RV delivers power, heat, water, refrigeration, and cooking redundancy in one mobile asset. The strategy is sound, and the report credits it as legitimate multi-system redundancy rather than scoring down for the absence of whole-house backup.
A mobile, capable household that can leave well but cannot yet shelter in place comfortably through an extended disruption. The biggest untapped asset is the community network that hasn't yet been built.
Greatest strengths
- Medical readiness — an experienced ER provider with advanced kits and references.
- Off-grid mobility — extensive gear and multiple evacuation routes driven regularly.
- Cooking — several fuel-independent options.
Most actionable gaps
- No grid-independent home heat and minimal stored water.
- No formalized emergency or family-communication plan.
- Almost no community connection — self-identified as the five-year priority.
Your resilience score
Readiness by system — self-rated vs. Crux assessed
Sorted worst-first by assessed score. Where the bar extends in orange, the assessment credited capability your self-rating didn't.
Your concerns, and how readiness matches
Economic instability Top concern
Income is more diversified than most — professional income, ADU rental, accessible retirement funds. A resilience lens adds income redundancy and hard assets as partial hedges; portfolio concentration is a fiduciary advisor's domain (as flagged).
Wildfire WUI property
The more physically immediate threat. Evacuation readiness is strong; on-site defensible space is the weakest physical gap and the largest single line item in the roadmap.
Prioritized roadmap — three horizons
The full plan sequences every system across three horizons, scoped to your stated budget and ordered to buy the most resilience per dollar. A sample from each:
- Install CO detectors — gas appliances present. Safety · most urgent~$40
- Service + add a second fire extinguisher. Safety~$80
- One-page family comms plan — meeting point and out-of-area contact. Communications$0
- Stage water + go-bag — fill jugs, add a 25-gal reserve, ready an SUV go-bag. Water · Mobility~$150
- Defensible-space overhaul — Zone 1 noncombustible, junipers removed (Firewise three-zone model). Wildfire · biggest physical gap$1.5–3K
- Heating & cooling upgrade — right-sized multi-zone heat pump replacing the failing A/C, plus single-room propane backup for grid independence. Specified in Appendix A. Energy · Shelter & Heat · top gap$14–22K
- Critical-load transfer scheme — interlock or small subpanel for a clean RV / generator connection. Energy · high impact-per-dollar$800–2K
- Backup water storage + filtration — tank sized to a hot-summer 30-day reserve; catchment optional. Water$1–5K
- Deliberate community engagement — meet neighbors, map skills, offer medical and build capability to a neighborhood group. The household's own five-year priority; start this month. Community · largest untapped assetlow $ · high effort
- Shop / RV-garage build — protected vehicle and RV storage, a workshop for ongoing build-out, and a south roof better suited to solar than the main house. Multi-system backup assetyears 2–5
- Expand food production — enlarge beds, add season extension (greenhouse or cold frames sized to the climate), consider laying hens. Foodyears 1–3
Appendix A — Heating, cooling & backup power
A sample of the equipment-level detail behind a single roadmap line. Sizing basis: a Manual J load of ~51,000 BTU/hr heating and ~42,000–51,000 BTU/hr cooling (3.5–4 ton) for the 1,700 sq ft main house; single-room backup ~9,000 BTU/hr. Off-grid cooling energy is derived from the household's measured ~30 kWh/day August peak.
Whole-house mini-split replacement replaces failing A/C, adds heat
| Item | Spec | Est. installed price |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-zone heat pump (4-zone) | ~36–42K BTU outdoor unit + 4 wall-mount heads, high-SEER2 | $12,000–20,000 |
| Sizing basis | 3.5–4 ton total to meet cooling on a 110°F design day | — |
| Per-zone reference | Multi-zone runs ~$2,000–7,000 per zone installed | — |
Source: national HVAC cost aggregators (HomeGuide, Angi, Filterbuy), May 2026 — whole-home 4+ head systems $10–18K+, multi-zone $6.5–15K+. Confirm with local licensed-HVAC bids; not a quote.
Single-room backup heat grid-independent
| Item | Spec | Est. price |
|---|---|---|
| Direct-vent propane wall heater | ~8,000–11,000 BTU, sealed combustion (Williams, US Stove, Martin and others are common in this class) | $450–1,000 (unit) |
| Install (vent kit, gas line) | Contractor or skilled DIY | $800–2,500 |
| Existing gas fireplace | Re-jet for propane if used as backup — confirm with manufacturer | varies |
Source: Home Depot / Menards / specialty retailers, May 2026 — sealed-combustion direct-vent units in this BTU range list ~$450–1,000; install varies with gas-line and vent run.
Generator sizing the existing 1,000 W is correctly sized for its job
The current 1,000 W generator is appropriately sized for its stated use: the refrigerator, rechargeable lighting, and plug-in devices. It is not sized for cooling or heating, nor should it be. Whole-house cooling needs ~4–5 kW (a $2,000–4,000 inverter generator), and the data shows that's an impractical path versus the RV and single-room strategy. Keep the 1,000 W unit for its current role and add fuel. If a larger unit is ever wanted, a 3,500–4,500 W inverter generator would run the single-room mini-split plus essentials.
End of excerpt
The full assessment continues with complete system-by-system findings, the stress tests behind the scores, the calculation supporting every recommendation, and the full three-horizon roadmap with budgets. We provide the complete sample on request.