Household Emissions Calculator

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Instructions
1. Current Emissions
2. Reduce Emissions
3. Estimated Savings

To get the most accurate results, gather your recent electric, gas, and/or oil bills so you can use real numbers for your household’s energy consumption. Remember that your energy bills vary by season, so use an average of winter and summer values if you can.
Allow yourself 10-15 minutes to enter the data.
After entering data, use the TAB key to continue moving through each section of the calculator. When you get to the end of a section, click “Next Section” to move on.
Visit the What You Can Do section of the climate change website to learn about other actions you can take to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.

Calculator Resources:

1. The Basics
2. Household Vehicles
3. Home Energy
4. Waste

How many people live in your home?
What is your zip code?		The calculator uses your zip code to more accurately estimate your electricity-related emissions. EPA does not record this information.
What is your household's primary heating source?	Natural Gas Oil Electric Heat Propane Wood I do not heat my house

Vehicle 1
	Enter your data	Estimated pounds of CO₂ per year
How many vehicles does your household have?	1 2 3 4 5 None
On average, how many miles do you put on vehicle 1?	Per Week Per Year 240 miles/week is about average in the United States per vehicle.
What is the average gas mileage for vehicle 1 (miles per gallon)?	If you don't know your car's fuel economy, you can look it up at fueleconomy.gov. The national average is 20.4 miles per gallon.	pounds of CO₂ per year 12,500 pounds is about average per vehicle over a year.
Vehicle 2
On average, how many miles do you put on vehicle 2?	Per Week Per Year
What is the average gas mileage for vehicle 2 (miles per gallon)?		pounds of CO₂ per year
Vehicle 3
On average, how many miles do you put on vehicle 3?	Per Week Per Year
What is the average gas mileage for vehicle 3 (miles per gallon)?		pounds of CO₂ per year
Vehicle 4
On average, how many miles do you put on vehicle 4?	Per Week Per Year
What is the average gas mileage for vehicle 4 (miles per gallon)?		pounds of CO₂ per year
Vehicle 5
On average, how many miles do you put on vehicle 5?	Per Week Per Year
What is the average gas mileage for vehicle 5 (miles per gallon)?		pounds of CO₂ per year
For a more detailed analysis of fuel costs and emissions from your car, visit EPA’s and the Department of Energy’s Fuel Economy Web site.

Your Total Estimated Emissions

0 lbs of CO₂ per year or 0 pounds of CO₂ per year per household member

41,500 pounds is about average in the United States for a household of two people over a year.

1. On the Road
2. At Home
3. Waste

Suggested Actions	Will You Take This Action?	Cost* (Dollars)	Estimated Savings (Dollars)	Estimated Savings (CO₂ Emissions)
Reduce the number of miles you drive vehicle 1 by miles per week.	Yes No	no cost	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Reduce the number of miles you drive vehicle 2 by miles per week.	Yes No	no cost	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Reduce the number of miles you drive vehicle 3 by miles per week.	Yes No	no cost	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Reduce the number of miles you drive vehicle 4 by miles per week.	Yes No	no cost	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Reduce the number of miles you drive vehicle 5 by miles per week.	Yes No	no cost	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Perform regular maintenance on your vehicle. Regular maintenance includes: keeping your engine properly tuned and tires properly inflated.	Yes No	$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Replace vehicle 1 with one that gets more miles per gallon.	Yes No	$$$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Replace vehicle 2 with one that gets more miles per gallon.	Yes No	$$$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Replace vehicle 3 with one that gets more miles per gallon.	Yes No	$$$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Replace vehicle 4 with one that gets more miles per gallon.	Yes No	$$$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Replace vehicle 5 with one that gets more miles per gallon.	Yes No	$$$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
For information on choosing a green vehicle, see EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide.
For more information on how to reduce your emissions related to transportation, see WYCD: On the Road.

Suggested Actions	Will You Take This Action?	Cost* (Dollars)	Estimated Savings (Dollars)	Estimated Savings (CO₂ Emissions)
Turn down your household's heating thermostat by degrees Fahrenheit on winter nights. ENERGY STAR recommends turning down your thermostat by 8 degrees Fahrenheit on winter nights and 8 degrees on winter days when you’re not home. Visit the ENERGY STAR Programmable Thermostats page to learn how to do this automatically.	Yes No	no cost	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Turn up your household's air conditioner thermostat by degrees Fahrenheit in summer. ENERGY STAR recommends turning up your thermostat by 7 degrees Fahrenheit on summer days and 4 degrees on summer nights. Visit the ENERGY STAR Programmable Thermostats page to learn how to do this automatically.	Yes No	no cost	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Enable the sleep feature on your computer and monitor.	Yes No	no cost	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Wash your clothes in cold water instead of hot. Enter the number of loads you do in a week:	Yes No	no cost	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Use a clothes line or drying rack for 50% of your laundry, instead of your dryer.	Yes No	$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Substitute % of your household's current electricity use with Green Power. On average, green power costs roughly 2 cents per kWh more than conventional power.	Yes No	$	The cost of green power varies depending on resource, geography and type of green power product.	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Replace 75-watt incandescent light bulbs with 20-watt ENERGY STAR lights. The Change a Light, Change the World website can help your household take this action.	Yes No	$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Replace your household's old refrigerator with an ENERGY STAR model.	Yes No	$$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Replace old gas or oil furnace or boiler with an ENERGY STAR model.	Yes No	$$$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Replace single-pane windows with ENERGY STAR windows.	Yes No	$$$	$ annual savings	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
For more information on how to reduce your emissions at home, see WYCD: At Home.

Suggested Actions	Cost* (Dollars)	Estimated Savings (Dollars)	Estimated Savings (CO₂ Emissions)
Are you willing to start recycling the materials you don't currently recycle (such as newspaper, magazines, glass, plastic, and metal)? Yes No	no cost	Potential cost savings from recycling vary by community. If your community charges a fee per bag for trash pickup, for example, you may save money by recycling.	pounds of CO₂ per year	percent of your total emissions
Also consider reducing and reusing materials whenever possible. For more information visit EPA's Reduce Reuse Recycle Web site.
For more information on how to reduce your waste, see WYCD: Waste.

Current Emissions (as reported in the first section)

0 pounds of CO₂ per year

My Actions
Selected Action	Estimated Savings (Dollars)	Estimated Savings (CO₂ Emissions)
Reduce the number of miles I drive my first vehicle by 0 miles per week.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Reduce the number of miles I drive my second vehicle by 0 miles per week.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Reduce the number of miles I drive my third vehicle by 0 miles per week.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Reduce the number of miles I drive my fourth vehicle by 0 miles per week.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Reduce the number of miles I drive my fifth vehicle by 0 miles per week.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Perform regular maintenance on my vehicle.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Replace my first vehicle with one that gets 0 more miles per gallon.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Replace my second vehicle with one that gets 0 more miles per gallon.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Replace my third vehicle with one that gets 0 more miles per gallon.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Replace my fourth vehicle with one that gets 0 more miles per gallon.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Replace my fifth vehicle with one that gets 0 more miles per gallon.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Turn down my household's heating thermostat by 0 degrees Fahrenheit on winter nights.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Turn down my household's air conditioner thermostat by 0 degrees Fahrenheit in summer.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Enable the sleep feature on my computer and monitor.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Wash my clothes in cold water instead of hot.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Use a clothes line or drying rack for 50% of my laundry, instead of my dryer.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Substitute 0% of my household's current electricity use with Green Power.		0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Replace 0 75-watt incandescent light bulbs with 20-watt ENERGY STAR lights.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Replace my household's old refrigerator with an ENERGY STAR model.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Replace old gas or oil furnace or boiler with an ENERGY STAR model.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
Replace single-pane windows with ENERGY STAR windows.	$0 annual savings	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions
I will start recycling newspaper, magazines, glass, plastic, and metal.	Potential cost savings from recycling vary by community.	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	0 percent of your total emissions

If you took all the actions you selected above, you would reduce your annual emissions by	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	or 0 percent of your total emissions
If you took all the actions you selected above, your potential dollar savings would be*	$0 per year
Your new total annual estimated CO₂ emissions would be	0 pounds of CO₂ per year	or 0 pounds of CO₂ per year per household member (average emissions per person in the United States are 20,750 pounds per year)

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Emissions from waste and emissions savings from recycling are expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents.

* no cost: you can take this action without spending money.
$: it is estimated that you will need to spend between $1 and $100 before you start seeing both energy and dollar savings from this action.
$$: it is estimated that you will need to spend more than $100 before you start seeing both energy and dollar savings from this action.
$$$: it is estimated that you will need to spend more than $1000 before you start seeing both energy and dollar savings from this action.

* Potential annual dollar savings are approximations based on generalized assumptions. Please note that the savings shown here do not account for the up-front cost of purchasing the energy-saving equipment or vehicles.

A spreadsheet version (Microsoft Excel, 7 MB, Microsoft Excel Viewer) of the calculator is also available; it includes descriptions of the formulas used in each step of the calculator.

For an explanation of the assumptions and sources used by this calculator, click here. Keep in mind that average per person emissions estimates or per capita emissions estimates are usually derived from national estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, which include greenhouse gas emissions from all sources in the U.S., including industrial emissions (emissions from manufacturing of goods and services). As a result, if you compare your estimates from the personal emissions calculator to per capita emissions in the U.S., they may differ significantly.

	Enter your data	Estimated pounds of CO₂ per year
How much natural gas does your household use per month? If you enter your monthly consumption in thousands of cubic feet, you'll get a more accurate estimate. If you enter dollars, our calculations assume that you pay $14.14/thousand cubic feet.	dollars thousand cubic feet therms $105 is about average in the United States for a household of two people.	pounds of CO₂ per year 11,000 pounds is about average for a household of two people over a year.
How much electricity does your household use per month? If you enter your average kilowatt-hours, you'll get a more accurate estimate. If you enter dollars, our calculations assume that you pay 10.6 cents/kWh.	dollars kilowatt-hours $100 is about average in the United States for a household of two people.	pounds of CO₂ per year 16,290 pounds is about average for a household of two people over a year.
Does your household currently purchase green power? Green power can often be bought through your local utility or through a green power marketer. What is Green Power?	Yes No
What portion of your household's total purchased electricity use is green power? Enter 100% if you buy all of your electricity as green power.	%
How much fuel oil does your household use per month? Divide your annual fuel oil consumption (in gallons or dollars) by 12 to obtain a monthly average. If you enter your average monthly fuel oil use in gallons, you'll get a more accurate estimate. If you enter dollars, our calculations assume that you pay $2.78/gallon.	dollars gallons $130 is about average in the United States for a household of two people.	pounds of CO₂ per year 14,500 pounds is about average for a household of two people over a year.
How much propane does your household use per month? If you enter your monthly propane use in gallons, you'll get a more accurate estimate. If you enter dollars, our calculations assume that you pay $2.19/gallon.	dollars gallons $130 is about average in the United States for a household of two people.	pounds of CO₂ per year 14,500 pounds is about average for a household of two people over a year.

	Enter your data	Estimated pounds of CO₂ per year
Total Waste Emissions Before Recycling Based on the number of people in your household, the box at right shows your estimated greenhouse gas emissions from waste. However, if you currently recycle certain materials, your waste emissions may be lower.		pounds of CO₂ per year 2,036 pounds is about average for a household of two people over a year.
Which of the following products do you currently recycle in your household?
Do you recycle aluminum and steel cans?	Yes No	pounds of CO₂ per year
Do you recycle plastic?	Yes No	pounds of CO₂ per year
Do you recycle glass?	Yes No	pounds of CO₂ per year
Do you recycle newspaper?	Yes No	pounds of CO₂ per year
Do you recycle magazines?	Yes No	pounds of CO₂ per year
	Total Waste Emissions After Recycling	pounds of CO₂ per year
For information on climate change and waste, visit the Waste section of the What You Can Do section of this Web site.