Home Carbon Footprint Calculator
Your yearly usage
Estimated yearly footprint
5.1
t CO₂/year
Breakdown by category
The Italian average is about 7 t per person, while the climate target is about 2 t per person
Estimate based on average Italian emission factors; actual values vary with the energy mix, the type of car and the flight routes.
How to cut your footprint
Four concrete actions that really make a difference
Switch to a 100% renewable energy supplier and consider rooftop solar: it cuts your electricity emissions at the source.
Cut private car use with active and public transport (bike, walking, transit) and take the train instead of the plane on short routes.
Improve home insulation (walls, windows, roof) and replace the gas boiler with a heat pump: less gas, less CO₂.
Reduce waste: limit food waste, choose efficient appliances and eat less meat, which has a large climate impact.
Seasonal tips
The habits that cut CO₂ in every season
Heating is the heaviest item in winter: set 19-20°C and insulate the rooms you use most.
Use daytime sun for free heat and lower the shutters in the evening to keep warmth in and burn less gas.
Dress the rooms, not just yourself: rugs, heavy curtains and draught excluders cut heat loss and heating CO₂.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about your household carbon footprint
What is a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases, expressed as CO₂ equivalent, generated directly or indirectly by our activities over a period (usually a year). For a household it mainly covers home energy (electricity and gas), transport (car and flights) and, more broadly, food and consumption too. It is measured in kg or tonnes of CO₂.
What is the average carbon footprint of an Italian?
In Italy the average footprint is about 7 tonnes of CO₂ per person per year, counting energy, transport and consumption. To stay within the climate targets (Paris Agreement) it would need to fall to roughly 2 tonnes per person by 2050. Most household emissions come from heating, electricity and mobility.
How is the carbon footprint calculated and what are kg of CO₂ equivalent?
You multiply each type of use by an emission factor, i.e. the kg of CO₂ generated per unit. This calculator uses: electricity 0.28 kg/kWh, gas 2.0 kg/Smc, petrol car 0.16 kg/km and an average return flight 500 kg. The total gives kg of CO₂ equivalent, a unit that converts all greenhouse gases into the equivalent effect of CO₂ so they can be added up. 1 tonne = 1,000 kg.
How polluting is a flight?
A medium-haul return flight emits roughly 500 kg of CO₂ per person, but intercontinental routes can exceed 2-3 tonnes each. Flying is one of the most impactful ways to travel: on short and medium routes the train emits far less CO₂. That is why avoiding even one flight a year is one of the most effective ways to cut your footprint.
Is the electric car really cleaner?
Yes, over the whole life cycle an electric car emits less than a petrol or diesel one, because it has no tailpipe emissions and electric motors are very efficient. How much cleaner it is depends on the energy mix used to charge it: with renewable electricity the advantage is greatest, with fossil-based power it shrinks. Making the battery has an upfront impact, but it is offset within a few years of use.
How can I reduce my carbon footprint?
The highest-impact actions are: switching to 100% renewable electricity and possibly solar; improving home insulation and replacing the boiler with a heat pump; cutting car use in favour of bikes, public transport and trains instead of planes; reducing food waste and meat consumption. Even small daily habits (turning off standby, full washing loads) add up when repeated all year.
Why does heating weigh so much on the footprint?
Because heating rooms takes a lot of energy for many months a year, and in most Italian homes it is done by burning gas, which emits about 2 kg of CO₂ per Smc. A poorly insulated house loses heat and uses much more. That is why acting on insulation, set temperature and the type of system (e.g. a heat pump) is one of the most effective levers to cut household emissions.
What figures are needed to estimate a carbon footprint?
Four yearly numbers: kWh of electricity, cubic metres of gas, kilometres driven and the number of return flights. From those come the kilos of CO2 and the total in tonnes.
How are the emissions worked out?
Each figure is multiplied by an Italian average emission factor: 0.28 kg of CO2 per kWh, 2 kg per cubic metre of gas, 0.16 kg per kilometre in a petrol car and 500 kg per return flight.
How does the result compare with the average?
The total is set against the Italian average of about 7 tonnes of CO2 a person and the climate target of about 2 tonnes. Real figures shift with the energy mix, the car and the flight routes.
Does my data stay private?
Yes, and not because we promise it: this tool runs entirely inside your browser. What you type or upload never leaves your device, so it never reaches a server of ours and there is nothing we could keep, read or lose. You can check it yourself: open the page, disconnect from the internet, and the tool keeps working.
Do you store what I enter?
No. There is no database behind this tool: we do not store your files, your text or your results. When you close the tab nothing is left — not here with us, because it never arrived, and not anywhere else.
Do you profile me? Are you GDPR compliant?
We do not profile you: there is no account to create, we never ask for your email to use a tool, and we keep no profile of what you do. We are an Italian company and we work under the GDPR and the other European rules, with the privacy notice and the consent request in plain sight. One thing we say in full rather than hiding it behind a slogan: the ads on the page are Google's, and Google may use cookies to personalise them. You decide from the consent banner: if you say no the ads stay, but they are not personalised, and the tool works exactly the same.
If it is free, how do you make money?
From the ads on the page, and that is all. We do not sell your data, there is no hidden paid plan, there is no limit that eventually asks for your card, and you do not have to sign up. The ads pay for the servers and for the time we spend writing the tools: that is how we can keep them open to everyone.