What would you do if, during a heatwave, you lost power? (Q18 WI2020)

The chart here reflects answers collected from Question #18 of the Winter 2020 survey, which asked: “What would you do if, during a heatwave, you lost power?” The structured responses for this question follow:

• I would turn on my back-up generator.

• I would go to the home of a friend or family member who did have power.

• I would wait until power was restored.

• I would try to reduce the amount of sunlight entering my common spaces in peak hours.

• I would go to a cooling center.

• I would try to air out the house as much as possible.

• I don’t know.

• N/A

• Other, please explain:

Of the 78 respondents who answered, the following was collected: 

• 5 respondents would call their utility company

• 18 respondents would go to the home of a friend or family member who did have power.

• 8 respondents said they would wait until power was restored.

• 2 respondents would try to reduce the amount of sunlight entering my common spaces in peak hours.

• 8 respondents would go to a cooling center.

• 16 respondents would try to air out the house as much as possible.

• 13 said they would not know.

• 17 respondents would employ other strategies like drinking water and taking showers (7), using fans (2), stay out of the house as much as possible (4), go to a hotel, beach house, or temporary housing (3), and pray (1). 

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.