I don't knw people, but as i moved to sweden for 6 years ago, we bought and renovated a old house on a forest that we renovate. The best insulation we did on the roof, but on the lower level we didn't insulate at all, the only insulation is problably the old walls about 100 years old. The only heating is a so called in sweden, an energy kasset, what is a iron made fire place that warms up cold air threw some airspaces around the fire and releases heated air on the upper side. Very effective. I spend around $300 a year. Before i used to gatter all the wood myself, than it was really cheap! The very positive is that i can survive without electric power for a long time. Last year my family was without power for 8 days, no problems ( except for the kids that thought it was boring without TV) i even kept the old wood stove in case the normal gas stove would stop. It gets pretty cold around here in the winter, i've been recording -20 deggres celsius!