Well, you don't have to be hooked into the grid if you are self-sufficient. But, if you are hooked in, then you can use your batteries to run your house during peak hours (when energy is expensive) and even sell some electricity back to the grid (for money), then at night you can recharge your batteries with less expensive energy.
Define good. Cheap? Reliable?
If you have geothermal your heating and cooling costs go way down, to a level where you could run all of your electronics with solar and batteries under most circumstances, or with a gasoline generator, thought you have to keep buying gasoline, which isn't really off the grid, but gasoline could be stockpiled.
Geothermal is very reliable because no matter the weather outside, the temp under ground is pretty constant and so the water circulates underground and comes to a medium temperature (maybe 55 degrees, for example). The the heat pump (this uses electricity) can use the temperature differential to heat or cool your air or water for your house. The heat pump can work as long as there is a heat differential to work with. So, the "complicated" or maintenance needing parts are the pump to circulate water under ground, the heat pump, and the fan to circulate air into your home. (the heat pump and fan would be part of the geothermal HVAC unit). My impression is that geothermal requires less maintenance than other forms of HVAC, but there is still some maintenance. The geothermal can also give hot water, or even heat a swimming pool or driveway (ie, to keep it warm enough to melt snow.) You can use renewables (solar or wind) to provide the electricity. (Yes, you can get a windmill. Not the giant ones, just a small one, if you live somewhere that there is not a lot of solar to be had, or if you don't want solar for some other reason). You can have a gas generator for emergency backup if your renewables fail, which really will very, very rarely happen if designed properly. You can have a wood fireplace for catastrophic backup for heat and cooking and boiling water. As far as I know, being off the grid should not affect your insurance costs; companies usually mostly want to know that you have a new-ish roof and up to code electrical and plumbing. You can live independently! We are in the process of getting this all set up for ourselves. I can't wait until it is finished. :). Good luck, Pede!
Well, you don't have to be hooked into the grid if you are self-sufficient. But, if you are hooked in, then you can use your batteries to run your house during peak hours (when energy is expensive) and even sell some electricity back to the grid (for money), then at night you can recharge your batteries with less expensive energy.
Define good. Cheap? Reliable?
If you have geothermal your heating and cooling costs go way down, to a level where you could run all of your electronics with solar and batteries under most circumstances, or with a gasoline generator, thought you have to keep buying gasoline, which isn't really off the grid, but gasoline could be stockpiled.
Geothermal is very reliable because no matter the weather outside, the temp under ground is pretty constant and so the water circulates underground and comes to a medium temperature (maybe 55 degrees, for example). The the heat pump (this uses electricity) can use the temperature differential to heat or cool your air or water for your house. The heat pump can work as long as there is a heat differential to work with. So, the "complicated" or maintenance needing parts are the pump to circulate water under ground, the heat pump, and the fan to circulate air into your home. (the heat pump and fan would be part of the geothermal HVAC unit). My impression is that geothermal requires less maintenance than other forms of HVAC, but there is still some maintenance. The geothermal can also give hot water, or even heat a swimming pool or driveway (ie, to keep it warm enough to melt snow.) You can use renewables (solar or wind) to provide the electricity. (Yes, you can get a windmill. Not the giant ones, just a small one, if you live somewhere that there is not a lot of solar to be had, or if you don't want solar for some other reason). You can have a gas generator for emergency backup if your renewables fail, which really will very, very rarely happen if designed properly. You can have a wood fireplace for catastrophic backup for heat and cooking and boiling water. As far as I know, being off the grid should not affect your insurance costs; companies usually mostly want to know that you have a new-ish roof and up to code electrical and plumbing. You can live independently! We are in the process of getting this all set up for ourselves. I can't wait until it is finished. :). Good luck, Pede!