No abstract

Over one‐half of all the energy consumed within the home is used for heating. Any effective campaign to conserve energy must convince consumers of the necessity of changing patterns of behaviour related to heating and improving the energy efficiency of their homes. A telephone survey using a random sample of 445 Alabama households was conducted to determine changes made by consumers in heating practices since the 1973 oil embargo. Descriptive statistics, chi‐square, and t‐tests were used to analyse the data. It was found that the most common change in heating practices made by Alabama residents was to reduce thermostat settings. Other changes included the use of supplementary heat or improvements in building shell efficiency. Supplementary heat was used more frequently by higher income households, by Caucasians, and by households containing young family members. The improvement of building shell efficiency was found to be associated with higher income and Caucasian households.

The reduction of energy costs related to heating homes is a concern of consumers. Interior designers are challenged to help their clients solve this problem in creative and aesthetically pleasing ways. It is important for designers to know what steps clients have taken to make homes more energy efficient. Such knowledge can provide a basis for interior design solutions which may not have been considered by clients. A random survey of 445 Alabama households showed the majority of homes were heated by either natural gas or electricity. Supplementary heat was used by one‐third of the residents and one‐third had added insulation. The most common method of conserving energy was to reduce thermostat settings. It was concluded that many clients have taken basic steps toward conserving energy. To realize additional savings professional knowledge of interior designers will be required.

Summary Results of this study revealed that interior designers, furniture retailers, furniture sales personnel, and consumers within the state of Alabama differed only slightly in their general knowledge of and attitudes toward fire resistant standards for upholstered furniture and in their knowledge of trade‐offs identified by UFAC. These slight differences were evidenced by MANOVA results which indicated a trend toward a difference at the .07 level of probability in the ways the four groups responded to 16 attitude and knowledge statements. This evidence of a trend toward a difference in group responses led to an analysis of the univariate tests which produced the MANOVA results. Through this analysis it was found that significant differences at the .05 and .01 levels of probability existed for group responses to eight of the 16 statements. Interestingly, even when significant differences were present, responses of the four groups tended to cluster on the seven point scale of agreement/disagreement. Essentially the knowledge and attitudes of interior designers concerning inflammability standards for upholstered furniture were like those of consumers. Only one significant difference was found between these two groups. This difference was in the area of knowledge about trade‐offs. Consumers were less certain that retail prices would increase if such standards were implemented. Interior designers' knowledge and attitudes differed from those of sales personnel in regard to only three statements. One difference related to whether UFAC hangtags were important in consumer decisions to purchase upholstered furniture. Interior designers thought the tags were more important than did sales people. A second difference concerned the locus of responsibility for preventing upholstered furniture fires. Sales personnel believed that it was the consumer's responsibility to prevent such fires and interior designers were neutral on the issue. The third difference centered upon government participation in establishing fire resistant standards for upholstered furniture. Interior designers were less convinced of the necessity for government involvement. Interior designers were like retailers in knowledge and attitudes with the exception of three statements. Retailers were more convinced than interior designers that UFAC hangtags were not important considerations in consumers' purchasing decisions. In terms of establishing standards for fire resistant upholstered furniture, retailers were more convinced of the need for government participation. Although both groups were in favor of standards for fire resistant upholstered furniture, interior designers wanted standards to a greater extent. The three professional groups did not differ on the basis of their knowledge of trade‐offs which are likely to result from the production of fire resistant furniture. The knowledge and attitudes of sales personnel and retailers were not significantly different from each other in any way. Perhaps a major factor in the similarity between these two grou...