During COVID-19, did you or other members of your household use any strategies to reduce your energy use (including heat, electricity, water, etc.) (Q41 Wi2020)

The chart reflects responses to Question #41 from the Winter 2020 survey, which asked, “During COVID-19, did you or other members of your household use any strategies to reduce energy use (including heat, electricity, water, etc.)?” The pre-structured options available were, “try to use as much sunlight as possible to save on electric”, “trying not to use a dryer to save on electric”, “lowered water heater to save on gas”, “wearing more clothes / using more blankets to save on heating”, “taking shorter showers to save on water”, “recycling old appliances and purchasing new energy-efficient ones”, “switching to LED light bulbs”, “consulting educational material or taking classes/workshops on conservation”, “all of the above”, “unplugging devices not in use”, and “none of the above”. There was also a space for survey administrators to enter additional responses.

A total of eighty-two respondents answered this question. 

• Twenty respondents (24.4%) used natural sunlight to save on electricity. 

• Three respondents (3.7%) reported that they tried to avoid using their dryer to save on electricity. 

• Six respondents (7.3%) reported turning down their water heater to save on gas. 

• Twelve respondents (14.6%) wore more clothes or used more blankets to save on heating. 

• Five respondents (6.1%) took shorter showers to save on water. 

• One respondent (1.2%) recycled their old appliances to purchase new, energy efficient ones. 

• Eight respondents (9.8%) used LED light bulbs. 

• Twenty-five respondents (30.5%) unplugged devices not in use. 

• Five respondents (6.1%) reported consulted educational material or attended workshops. 

• Twenty respondents (24.3%) stated none of the above. 

• Twenty-seven respondents (32.9%) answered “other.” 

• Among those responses, the most common of which were two reporting weatherization, six stating they used the same strategies as before, three turning their cooling down, two turning their heating down, four washing their clothes less, and six turning lights off when not in the room.

The data was produced by the Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 Survey - Overview, which was administered to 83 people over a fourteen week period between December 2020 and March 2021. Visit the Winter 2020 Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 - Survey Results page to view more data from our survey. The project is approved by Drexel’s IRB.