National survey: how people are making home upgrades during COVID-19

Most of us can quickly list a handful of things we’d like to change about our homes. Whether we’re trying to make it more comfortable to live in, make it less expensive to keep up, or simply raise the overall value of the home, it seems there is always something to do.

COVID-19 has impacted virtually everyone worldwide, in one way or another, so we were curious how it is influencing homeowners specifically in regards to home upgrades. We conducted a survey of 1,000 Americans from across the country and the results made it clear that even during this unique time, many people are still looking to make improvements to their homes.

Why is now the time to talk about home upgrades?

Despite the turmoil caused by a global pandemic, we found that many homeowners clearly feel home upgrades are worth pursuing. COVID-19 has resulted in millions of people losing their jobs, having their hours cut, or being furloughed for some length of time. We’re all familiar with the unrest and uncertainty, and it’s tough to predict when things will go back to normal again.

But that’s why we found the results of our survey to be so fascinating.

What did our survey show about people and home upgrades?

Our survey looked at home improvements, financial issues, and green issues, but here we’ll focus on some of the most important findings related to home improvement and upgrades.

First, although over half (52%) of people have tackled a home improvement project in the last six months, we found that Millennials (those born between 1980 and 1995) were most likely to spend money to improve their living situation. 69% of Millennials reported working on a home improvement project of one kind or another, compared to 50% of Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1980), and 42% of Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and older.

Second, when we asked Americans where they were getting the money for their home improvement projects, they came up with a variety of answers including: personal savings, their economic stimulus bill, unspent vacation budgets, bank and credit union loans, and credit cards or personal loans. These answers sometimes broke down across age demographics. For example, 26% of Millennials reported using their unspent vacation money to improve their homes compared to 20% of Gen Xers and only 9% of Baby Boomers.

Third, as mentioned, a little over half of the respondents said they have worked on, are currently working on, or have plans to work on a home improvement project. These projects included things such as a room remodel (17%) or a landscaping project (16%) as well as smaller projects designed to make the homeowner’s home more energy inefficient. For example, some respondents said they had plans to replace an old appliance with an energy-efficient one (10%), upgrade their widows (10%), install a new thermostat (7%) or upgrade their insulation (6%). Grouping these smaller projects together, what we see is that most homeowners want to make improvements to their home that will make it more energy-efficient.

It’s possible that this trend is explained, at least in part, by the fact that many people are spending more time at home, and seeing their energy bills go up as a result. 66% of Millennials, 60% of Gen Xers, and 32% of Baby Boomers reported that they’re using more electricity than they were before. So it makes sense that they’d want to find ways to make their homes run on less electricity. Another reason why homeowners might be focusing on energy-related updates is that blackouts and brownouts are becoming an increasingly persistent and frustrating problem.

Blackouts and brownouts: another reason for home upgrades

Nearly half (45%) of respondents have either experienced brownouts or blackouts already or believe they will experience one soon. One relevant factor that may be contributing to an increase in blackouts and brownouts is the increased energy demand from a large portion of US homes, which puts a higher strain on local utility grids.

Another potential factor could be the increasingly unreliable energy from local utilities as a result of the uptick in natural disasters (particularly fires in the Western United States). Whatever the reasons, however, our survey made it clear that many homeowners are looking for ways to prepare their homes for an uncertain future. 38% of homeowners expressed interest in battery power for their homes as a way to guard against the high cost and uncertainty that comes with higher energy demand and more frequent natural disasters.

How solar can help people upgrade their home

Our survey showed that people across the board were interested in green improvements. It also showed that people were afraid of losing their power or paying more for electricity than they have in the past.

Solar energy is proving to be an increasingly attractive option for homeowners because of the reliability that comes with producing power right where it’s used: rooftop solar avoids the need to transport energy long distances across dated grid infrastructure. The recent improvements in battery technology have also contributed to the spike in interest because of the way they help people power through blackouts and brownouts.