I only understood how bad my insulation was after I fixed it and watched the radiators chill

I only understood how bad my insulation was after I fixed it and watched the radiators chill. I rent in an old concrete block building in a cold climate and for years my winter routine was the same, crank the radiators almost to max, wear two sweaters at home and still feel that weird cold draft around my legs. My heating bill was gross but I just blamed the energy company and moved on. Last year a neighbor mentioned that our building finally allowed exterior insulation if we paid for our own section and at first I thought it was just some fancy cosmetic thing. Then he showed me his bill from the previous winter vs now and the difference was basically a small vacation. I bit the bullet and got a company to do exterior insulation, plus they sealed the worst gaps around the windows from the inside. It was not cheap up front, I paid a bit over a months rent for the work, but the first real cold week was like living in a different flat. The walls are not freezing to the touch anymore, there is no draft sliding down from the window and the heat from cooking or showering actually stays around. The funniest part is my radiators, last winter the valve lived on 4 out of 5, now it sits happily at 2, sometimes 2 and a half, and the place is still warmer than before. My bills so far are about 30 percent lower compared to the same months last year and that is before any price hikes. If you are in an older building and keep throwing money into the heating system, it might be worth looking at where the heat escapes instead, good insulation is not sexy but watching the valve go down and your bill follow it is a pretty nice feeling.