Heating Retention in Small Condo

[SmallBasementCondo]

Hello! New to the forum, happy to be here!

I am the owner of a 1BR basement level condo. However, there's an issue that plagues me each winter.

1.) My unit appears to be lacking in terms of weather proofing. There is a front door that opens to the interior of my building (which is a mixture of condos and rented apartments) and a backdoor which opens to a patio. When temperatures drop below ~40 degrees Fahrenheit, the unit becomes uncomfortably chilly, even with the heat cranked to ~74.

Last year, I had a handyman do some weather proofing work on the back door and it helped somewhat, but in the midst of another winter, I can't say I'm especially comfortable in my own home, have to wear multiple layers of clothing to not freeze.

Things are better in the bedroom, and when I close the bedroom door, with the heat on, it's comfortable.

Do I have any further options I can take to increase heat retention in my unit?

Thanks for any input you might have.

 

[Silentrunning]

Welcome to the forum. My guess is it’s your windows and doors. Modern thermo windows can make a huge difference in comfort. Place your hand on the inside of your windows. If the glass is freezing cold you are loosing heat there.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

There are LOW-E window films that can be applied to existing glass. It is better to replace everything of course, but since regular glass emits roughly 93% of the energy that comes at it, dropping that surface emission below 30% or even below 10% is going to have the heat retention effect you are after for far less money than replacement. The window frames have losses to though so it is a partial fix.