What would you do if there was a government-issued shelter-in-place order when you lost power during a heatwave? (Q19 WI2020)

The chart here reflects answers collected from Question #19 of the Winter 2020 survey, which asked: “What would you do if there was a government-issued shelter-in-place order when you lost power during a heatwave?” 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 try to air out the house as much as possible.

• I would try to get a hold of a power generator.

• I don’t know.

• Other, please explain:

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

• 1 respondent would turn on their back-up generator.

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

• 9 respondents would wait until power was restored. 

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

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

• 14 respondents said they don’t know.

• 24 would do other things like taking cold showers (7), would stay put (3), would try to get air (3), staying in a car with air conditioning (1), try to borrow money to pay for a hotel (1), leave the house (3), use battery-powered fans (1), use flashlights for light (1), call the utility company (2), pray (1), call the apartment manager (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.