Why not try out the simplest/cheapest options 1st? Get some weatherproofing tape and close the seams on the window, or caulk the window seams.

What does the landlord have to say about that? Your best option now is to use a window insulation kit. Alternatively, you can use a portable oil-filled heater. (The fan space heater types tend to burn out over extensive use.) I use one when I don't need to heat my entire apartment and it's silent.

It does sound like the problem is beyond your windows, but what’s the downside of trying out some fixes and seeing if they help? Don’t just do the strips, use one of those plastic sheet insulation kits.

It definitely can help a lot. And is pretty inexpensive to try it

Use the plastic sheet kits. They work

Do your windows get frost on the insides? If so it's probably the cheap windows. Single pane windows have terrible insulation and let out a lot of heat. Your landlord will never pay to replace them though because nice windows are expensive.

On the other hand, if your windows aren't doing that, it could be that the seal around the window is bad. Use weatherproof tape on the seams.

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Get some bubble wrap, cut it to the size of the windows, spritz the windows with water and smooth the wrap on - bubble side to the window then use a plastic sheet insulating kit. We lived in a 200 year old house with old leaky single pane windows and doing this made a huge difference.

The oil filled ones are safer as well.

The plastic sheets can help a lot if the key culprit is a drafty window.

There's another option, but since you rent it's probably off the table though you could ask the landlord.

We have a bedroom that has two exterior walls and is part of a zone where the thermostat is in another bedroom which only has one exterior wall so the former would get really cold before the thermostat called for heat in the other room. We upgraded to an EcoBee thermostat because they have battery powered remote temperature sensors that connects to it. We put one of those in the cold bedroom and the temperature in that room now drives when the heat cycles on and off so it's fine in both rooms.

They will definitely help. The plastic shrink wrap + heavy curtains should help add ~6 degrees, and as silly as it sounds, sealing the drafts prevents “wind chill” which also improves how cold you feel.

Agreed with what everyone else said, plastic window insulation and space heaters are your best friend. Although I will say, make sure you also check that you aren't covering the heating vents in your room, as that can make a big difference. I also had a similar problem to yours, and one day discovered that the windows in my room actually fell open a few inches at the top if I didn't tape them shut. Hopefully not the case for you, but something to check for.

We have a room like that. We insulated the windows as everyone else has already suggested, put a thick rug down on the floor, but there were still strong drafts that were coming from the outlets and the baseboards. We put those baby-proofing plugs in any unused outlets, weather-taped around the covers, and then caulked the baseboards. If you can't manage caulk atm just use hot glue. It will peel up nicely in the summer when you are ready to caulk.

Make sure to use a humidifier, especially if you get a space heater.

We also found using a higher bed and not putting anything underneath it so that air could flow under the bed and move around the room helped a lot.

Where is the thermostat in your apt? If it’s in a well sealed room, it may not be getting triggered by the cold and not turning on. Locate it and come to a consensus with your roommate(s) re what is a reasonable temp to keep it. In the meantime, buy window sealer from the hardware store and apply to your windows. It will help. I’d also suggest getting an electric blanket. A plush one with auto shutoff will help.

I second bubble wrap!! And hang a thick comforter over the entire window.

Just a warning that space heaters are energy hogs as will cause a spike in the power bill. If OP pays electric, that could be a problem. If landlord pays the electric bill, it might get their attention.

You are probably in a room that was added to the pipes or at the end of the exchange so all the heat is gone by the time it gets to you.

The plastice over windows technique will keep the wind out, but it can get frustrating. You might also get in trouble when you take it off since the tape often rips off paint.

Another option is to get fire resistant foam and put it inside the window. Get it just a little larger and then shove it in. That will help a lot with both the cold and noise.

Space heaters can be dangerous, use up a lot of electricty, and are often noisy. Maybe buy an electric heated blanket instead or hot water bottle for your bed. Good luck!

Bubble wrap inside the insulating plastic! Fuck! I love that! I wish I had known that in my old cold shitty apartment!

Okay, so this could be a hit or miss, but do you have baseboard heaters? If you do, make sure the vent flaps are opened up. When I came to Boston my first couple of years, I had no idea how baseboard heaters worked in these old houses, specifically that you had to manually open those vents. Made a huge difference!

Yeah, adds a great insulating layer without killing all your natural light.

Use those plastic window sheet kits. The first order solution to this problem is to stop the draft.

> Do you think my room can get as warm as the rest of the apartment if I just weatherproof the windows? Would using those weather strips and getting thermal curtains work

yes

Wasn't gonna down vote you until you whined about being down voted. There are kits for insulating windows. Get the plastic wrap looking stuff and then layer with blankets over the whole window frame. If there's any visible gaps plug them as best as you can. Also see what you can do about the heat you can usually (but not always) adjust radiators and vents. You can also try one of those tea light ceramic heaters, I've never tried one but I have some old school candle lanterns for camping and they can kick off some heat

I don't recommend space heaters as that will kill your electric bill. Those are only typically worth it if you have a whole house/apartment but only need heat in one room as that's then a trade-off. If it's only at night that's your issue you can also get a sleeping bag that's what I used to do when I lived in an apartment that was from the early 1800s, covered the windows then used a sleeping bag + wool blanket + quilt just grab your morning clothes and get back in to warm em up and keep slippers nearby so your not walking around on cold floors