Meet Annie, a Profile in Behavior Change

• June 6, 2017
• Heat Smart

Our Profiles in Behavior Change are stories from real people who have proven the Heat Smart approach to energy efficiency works and who shared their thoughts with us. Today we’d like you to meet Annie, a single woman who lives on a fixed income in an apartment in Wilmington, North Carolina with electric heat. She started using the program in the winter of 2015-2016, and kept with it from October through March, consistently filling out our response surveys.

What she did: Annie loved our quality wool blend blankets and kept them on the bed all winter. She began turning the heat down by approximately 7 or 8 degrees at night.

How much she saved: Annie reports saving about $10 per month on her utility bill, proving the approach worked. The first month’s savings surprised her and encouraged her to continue turning the heat down to continue saving. And, she says she feels more knowledgeable about energy saving now than she did before.

What the savings meant to her: “With the lower electricity bill, I could pay the whole thing instead of just a partial every month. That felt really good, I don’t like having a big outstanding bill.”

What she liked: “I appreciated the quality of the blankets, they really kept me warm and comfortable. I kept using them again this winter, and continued saving.”

Would she recommend Heat Smart?: “Yes, I’d give Heat Smart a 9 out of 10, it was such an easy idea. I was very pleased to be a part of the program.”

The result:  Now that her energy-use behavior change has proven to save her money and electricity, Annie is a dedicated Heat Smart fan. Not only did it help her stretch her budget and eliminate overdue bills, it helped reduce grid demand for the utility company and helped heat assistance programs reach more people. Imagine what the results could be if everyone took our approach!