Is your COVID-19 housing using any of the following strategies to reduce your energy use during this time? (Q41 Sp2020)

The chart reflects responses to Question #41 from the Spring 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, “Using sunlight instead of electric lighting”, “avoiding use of the dryer to save on electric”, “lowered water heater to save on gas”, “wearing more clothes or using more blankets to save on heating”, “taking shorter showers to save on water”, “consulting educational material or taking classes/workshops on conservation”, “all of the above”, and “none of the above”. There was also a space for survey administrators to enter additional responses.  

There were a total of eighty-two respondents who answered this question. 

• Thirty respondents (36.6%) said they were using sunlight instead of electricity. 

• Seven respondents (8.5%) said they were not using a dryer to save on electricity. 

• Eight respondents (9.8%) said they lowered the water heater to save on gas. 

• Twenty-four respondents (29.3%) said they were wearing more clothes or using more blankets to save on electricity. 

• Eighteen respondents (22%) said they were taking shorter showers. 

• One respondent (1.2%) is consulting educational materials or workshops. 

• Thirty respondents (36.6%) said none of the above. 

• Eleven respondents (13.4%) answered “other” with six of them mentioning doing the same things as pre COVID.

The data was produced by the Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 Survey - Overview, which was administered to 86 people over a six week period in May-June 2020. Visit the Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 - Survey Results page to view more data from our survey. The project is approved by Drexel’s IRB.