Home Carbon Footprint Calculator
Calculate your home's annual CO2 emissions from electricity, heating, and car use.
See how you compare to averages.
Your home carbon footprint measures the total CO2 (and equivalent greenhouse gases) produced by your household each year from three major sources: electricity use, home heating, and personal car travel.
Electricity The average US household pays about $0.12β0.16 per kWh. As a rule of thumb, $1 of electricity equals roughly 10 kWh of energy consumed. Generating 1 kWh of electricity from the US average grid mix produces about 0.386 kg of CO2. So your monthly electricity bill in dollars, multiplied by 10 (to get kWh) and then by 0.386, gives the monthly CO2 in kg. Multiply by 12 for the annual total.
Home Heating Natural gas is billed in therms. One dollar of natural gas is roughly 10 therms, and each therm produces about 5.3 kg of CO2. Heating oil has a higher carbon intensity β approximately 7 kg of CO2 per dollar spent. Electric heating is already captured in the electricity calculation above, so it is not double-counted. If you use no dedicated heating fuel, select “None.”
Car Travel Fuel type matters enormously. A gasoline car emits approximately 0.404 kg of CO2 per mile (0.251 kg/km). Diesel is slightly higher at 0.450 kg/mile. A hybrid cuts that to around 0.200 kg/mile. An electric vehicle powered by the average US grid produces about 0.120 kg per mile β still not zero, but roughly 70% lower than a gas car.
Understanding Your Result The US average personal carbon footprint is about 16 tonnes of CO2 per year β one of the highest in the world. The EU average is around 7 tonnes. The global target to limit warming to 1.5Β°C is approximately 2 tonnes per person per year.
One tree absorbs roughly 22 kg of CO2 per year. This calculator tells you how many trees would need to grow for a full year to absorb your footprint β a vivid way to put the numbers in perspective.
Worked Example $120/month electricity + natural gas heating at $80/month + 12,000 miles/year in a gasoline car:
- Electricity: 120 Γ 10 Γ 0.386 Γ 12 = 5,558 kg
- Gas heating: 80 Γ 10 Γ 5.3 Γ 12 = 50,880 kg β wait, that uses the $1=10 therms estimate β adjust for actual local rates
- Car: 12,000 Γ 0.404 = 4,848 kg Approximate total: ~11 tonnes CO2/year β below the US average but well above the global target.