Housework Calories Burned Calculator

It depends on the activity, your body weight, and how long you do it. Light tasks like dusting or cooking burn around 80–120 kcal per hour for a 150 lb person, while vigorous activities like shoveling snow or scrubbing floors can burn 300–400 kcal per hour. This calculator uses MET values to give you a personalized estimate.

MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task. A MET of 1 represents the energy you burn at rest (roughly 1 kcal per kg per hour). Activities are assigned MET values based on their intensity — for example, vacuuming has a MET of about 3.5. The formula is: Calories = MET × weight (kg) × duration (hours).

Yes, significantly. Heavier individuals burn more calories performing the same activity for the same duration because their bodies require more energy to move. A 200 lb person vacuuming for 30 minutes burns roughly 40–50% more calories than a 120 lb person doing the same task.

Housework can contribute meaningfully to your daily calorie burn and is counted as NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). Vigorous chores like mowing the lawn, scrubbing, or shoveling snow can match moderate gym sessions. However, structured exercise typically offers greater cardiovascular and strength benefits. Combining both is ideal.

Shoveling snow is one of the highest-intensity household activities, with a MET of around 6.0. Other high-calorie chores include mowing the lawn with a push mower (MET ~5.5), moving furniture (MET ~5.0), and scrubbing floors (MET ~3.8). Light tasks like cooking or dusting have lower MET values around 2.0–2.5.

You can increase your calorie burn by moving more vigorously — try lunges while vacuuming, squats while loading laundry, or walking quickly between rooms. Doing chores at a faster pace, taking fewer breaks, or combining tasks all add up. Even standing instead of sitting while doing tasks like folding laundry burns additional calories.

These estimates are based on standardized MET values from scientific activity compendiums and represent a reasonable average. Actual calories burned can vary based on fitness level, muscle mass, age, and individual metabolism. The results are best used as a helpful guide rather than an exact measurement.

Roughly 7,700 calories of energy expenditure equates to 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of fat, meaning 1 gram of fat holds about 7.7 calories. So if you burn 150 kcal vacuuming, you've burned approximately 19–20 grams of fat. The calculator shows this automatically in the Fat Burned output field.