Have you ever lost heat in your home? (Q15 S + W 2020)

The chart here reflects answers collected from question #15 of the Spring 2020 and Winter 2020 surveys, which asked: “Have you ever lost heat in your home?” The structured responses prepared by the research group follow: 

• Yes, my heater broke

• Yes, my utilities were shut off

• Yes, there was a power outage due to weather

• Yes, other:

• No

• Other, please explain

A total of 166 respondents answered this question. 

• 32 respondents lost heat when their heater broke

• 8 respondents noted their utilities were shut off

• 2 respondents saying this was in addition to their heater breaking

• 19 respondents noted losing heat when there was a power outage due to weather

• 10 respondents noted they lost their heat due to other things like:

• Being out of oil

• Because they had the water tank replaced

• Lost heat when the electrical system was being redone

• Their heater is old

• Had issues with the water heater

• Lost heat when their children were small

• Wild-fire outages

• Lost heat when their basement flooded

• Ran out of wood

• The oil company forgot to refill their oil

• 89 respondents said they had never lost heat

The data was produced by the Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 Survey, which has been administered to 169 people over two time periods. The Spring 2020 survey was administered to 86 people between May and June, and the Winter 2020 survey was administered to 83 people between December 2020 and March 2021. Visit the Shifting Energy Demands in COVID-19 - Spring + Winter 2020 Survey Results page to view more data from our survey. The project is approved by Drexel’s IRB.