>I'm new to this forum and to thinking of alternative energy.
My family and I are leaving the speed of big city living, and building a new house in Wisconsin on a ridge top. The house will be approx. 3000 sq ft for the first and second floor, and approx. 1600 sq ft for the basement; there is an attached 3 car garage.
The house will be well insulated, with vapor barriers (ext and int), a wall of windows (Pella) on the first floor facing south (south-west), and a good eave overhang to shade the summer sun.
I'd like radiant floor heating on both floors as well as in the basement and garage, and I'll also have a masonry heater on the first floor.
In addition, I should point out that the nearest power line is 2500 ft from the building site; I will have private septic and water.
In my head I'd like to be off the grid, but I'm thinking that I should be connected to it, just in case. For me it's going to be difficult to give up my SubZero fridge and high-end stereo, plus we have four children all 12 years and younger. For computers we use laptops.
Our monthly power consumption is as low as 750kwh with the upper end around 1300kwh.
Now that I've bored everyone with a description of my house, here are my questions, what are the best methods for 1)heating, 2)electricity, and 3)cooling (not quite as necessary)?
Should I use a battery bank for storage or forget the storage and just use the grid when there is no sun and no wind? Should I not worry about dragging power out to my site, but then I’ll miss out on grants and gov. incentive programs, right?
What are the advantages of solar-geothermal? I'm told that the electrical consumption of a geothermal system does not make it worthwhile - I can't find any material supporting or contradicting geothermal appetite for electricity.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
In advance, thank you.
Wyatt
