Your Current Household Emissions Sources

Household Vehicles

Pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent are calculated based on EPA's estimate of the Average Annual Emissions and Fuel Consumption for Gasoline-Fueled Passenger Cars and Light Trucks in the United States. Estimates of the typical values for fuel economy and miles driven per week are from the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Statistics 2012 Table VM-1 (PDF) (1 p, 12K). Note that EPA's emissions estimates are lower than estimates obtained through fueleconomy.gov, because EPA's estimates are for tailpipe emissions only. The fueleconomy.gov site estimates emissions over the full fuel lifecycle (including extraction, processing, and transportation of fuel).

Electricity

Electricity emissions factors are categorized by geographic subregion. Source: EPA. eGRID Version 1.0 Aggregation File, eGRID 9^th Edition (Year 2010 Data).

"Typical" annual CO₂ emissions are 14,020 pounds per household, assuming approximately 943 kWh per month. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration 2012. A Look at Residential Energy Consumption in 2009, Table CE2.1.

Natural Gas

Carbon coefficient for natural gas: 117 pounds of CO₂ per million BTU, or 0.12 pounds per cubic foot of gas. Source: U.S. EPA Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2011 (EPA 2013).

"Typical" annual CO₂ emissions of 7,892 pounds per household based on national average monthly consumption of 5,500 cubic feet of gas. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration 2012. A Look at Residential Energy Consumption in 2009, Table CE2.1.

Fuel Oil

Carbon coefficient for distillate fuel (fuel oil): 163 pounds of CO₂ per million BTU, or 22.61 pounds per gallon. Source: U.S. EPA Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2011 (EPA 2013).

"Typical" annual CO₂ emissions of 12,460 pounds per household based on national average monthly consumption of 46 gallons of oil. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration 2012. A Look at Residential Energy Consumption in 2009, Table CE2.1.

Propane

Carbon coefficient for LPG (propane): 136 pounds of CO₂ per million BTU, or 12.43 pounds per gallon. Source: U.S. EPA Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2011 (EPA 2013).

"Typical" annual CO₂ emissions of 5,766pounds per household based on national average monthly consumption of 39 gallons of propane. Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration 2012. A Look at Residential Energy Consumption in 2009, Table CE2.1.

Waste Disposal

Estimates of greenhouse gas emission benefits from recycling newspaper, glass, plastic, metal, and magazines were developed using national waste data and life-cycle greenhouse gas emission factors for waste management. Calculations assume that it would be possible for households to recycle 100 percent of all recyclable materials generated as waste. For example, if you indicate that you recycle newspapers, this calculator assumes that you recycle 100 percent of the newspapers you receive. It is estimated that on average, each person generates 0.026 tons of newspaper, 0.036 tons of glass, 0.016 tons of plastic, 0.010 tons of metal, and 0.005 tons of magazines per year.

EPA's annual Characterization Report was the source of per capita waste generation by material type (e.g., newspaper waste generated per person). Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2014. Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Date Tables for 2012 (PDF) (63 pp, 1.6MB, About PDF).

Carbon dioxide equivalent emissions associated with household waste management were calculated using the total emissions for landfills (including incineration, landfill gas-to-energy projects, oxidation, and flaring) from EPA's Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, 1990-2012 and the United States population estimates from EPA's annual Characterization Report mentioned above. The emission factors for each material type were developed by EPA and presented in the Agency's report on greenhouse gas emissions from waste management and in the online Waste Reduction Model (WARM). These emission factors take into account the full material life cycle; i.e., not only emissions at the landfill, but also emissions and sequestration associated with production, manufacturing, remanufacturing, forest carbon storage due to reduced harvests, etc. The emission factor used for recycling materials in this calculator compares greenhouse gas emissions from recycling with those attributable to landfilling. This approach enables policy makers to evaluate, on a per-ton basis, the overall difference in greenhouse gas emissions between (1) recycling 1 ton of material and (2) manufacturing and then managing (post-consumer) 1 ton of the same material. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2014. Waste-Reduction Model (WARM).

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What You Can Do to Reduce Your Emissions

On the Road

Emission factors based on EPA's estimate of the average annual emissions and fuel consumption for gasoline-fueled passenger cars and light trucks in the United States.

Cost savings for reducing the number of miles driven are calculated using 20 cents per mile (includes gas, oil and maintenance). Source: Transportation Energy Data Book. Table 10.12. Average variable cost per mile, 2013.

Properly inflating tires: Assumes an increase in fuel efficiency of 3 percent. Keeping your engine properly tuned: Assumes an increase in fuel efficiency of 4 percent. Source: Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy, Fuel Economy Website, 2011.

Perform regular maintenance on your vehicles: Assumes an increase in fuel efficiency of 7 percent. Source: Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy, Fuel Economy Website, 2011.

Cost savings for purchasing a more fuel efficient vehicle are calculated using $3.68 per gallon. Source: Energy Information Administration (EIA), 2013. Annual average price per gallon of gasoline (all grades).

At Home

Cost savings for natural gas consuming devices assume an average cost of $10.68 per thousand cubic feet. Source: Energy Information Administration: US Residential Natural Gas Prices, 2012.

Cost savings for electricity consuming devices assume average cost per kWh of $0.1188. Source:  Energy Information Administration: Electric Power Monthly September 2013.

Cost savings for fuel oil consuming devices assume an average cost of $4.02 per gallon. Source:  Energy Information Administration: US Residential Fuel Oil Prices, 2012.

Cost savings for propane consuming devices assume an average cost of $2.47 per gallon. Source:  Energy Information Administration: Residential Propane Prices, 2012.

Turning down your heating thermostat: Assumes 3 percent savings in heating energy use for a 1 degree decrease. Source: ENERGY STAR. Life Cycle Cost Estimating Tool for ENERGY STAR Programmable Thermostats, 2008. Assumes that, nationally, 9% of annual residential electricity consumption, 63% of annual natural gas consumption, 70% of annual propane consumption, and 87% of annual fuel oil consumption are used for space heating. Source:  Energy Information Administration. A Look at Residential Energy Consumption in 2009,Table CE4.1

Turning up thermostat for central air conditioner: Assumes 6 percent savings in cooling energy use for a 1 degree increase. Source: ENERGY STAR. Life Cycle Cost Estimating Tool for ENERGY STAR Programmable Thermostats, 2008. Assumes that nationally, 14% of annual electricity consumption is used for space cooling. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration. End-use Consumption of Electricity. Energy Information Administration. A Look at Residential Energy Consumption in 2009,Table CE4.1

Enable sleep feature on your computer and monitor. Assumes ENERGY STAR desktop computer and monitor. Average annual unit computer energy (sleep feature enabled, computer turned off at night): 71 kWh; average annual unit computer energy (sleep feature not enabled, computer turned off at night): 143 kWh. Average annual unit monitor energy (sleep feature enabled, monitor turned off at night): 32 kWh; average annual unit monitor energy (sleep feature not enabled, monitor turned off at night): 67 kWh. Source: ENERGY STAR Data Book Worksheet for 2014.

Wash clothes in cold water instead of hot: Assumes average use of 289 kWh per year or 0.96 kWh per load. Source: ENERGY STAR Data Book Worksheet for 2014. Use a clothes line or drying rack for 50% of your laundry, instead of your dryer: Assumes 769 kWh of electricity used per year. Source: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Amended federal standard (10 CFR 430.32(h)(3)) for residential clothes dryers.

Replacing 43 watt incandescent light bulbs with 13 watt compact fluorescents: Assumes that lights are on for 3 hours per day. Source: ENERGY STAR Data Book Worksheet for 2014 .

Replacing old refrigerator with an ENERGY STAR model: Assumes old model uses 810 kWh per year; ENERGY STAR model uses 322 kWh per year. Source: ENERGY STAR Data Book Worksheet for 2014.

Replacing an old boiler or furnace with an ENERGY STAR model: Assumes 2000 sq ft house; 300 square feet of glass. Source: EPA’s Boiler and Furnace Replacement Savings spreadsheet, 2014.

Replacing single-pane windows with ENERGY STAR windows: Assumes 2000 square-foot house, 300 square feet of glass. Source: ENERGY STAR. Methodology based on RESFEN 3.1 calculations performed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), 2005.

Recycling

Calculations assume that it would be possible for households to recycle 100 percent of all recyclable materials generated as waste. The plastic material type used in the calculator includes PET and HDPE, and the metal material type includes aluminum and steel cans.

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