Activity calories · 2024 Compendium METs

Calories burned doing housework

Quick answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns about 116 kcal in 30 minutes of doing housework (House cleaning, general), and about 231 kcal in an hour. That is 3.3 METs.

30 minutes: 116kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 231kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 198kcal; 60 kg (132 lb)
1 hour: 264kcal; 80 kg (176 lb)

Household tasks are low-to-moderate activity, and the Compendium rates each one: light tidying is lowest, scrubbing, mopping and heavy cleaning higher. A morning of mixed chores is best entered as the time you were actually on your feet and working.

Calculate calories burned doing housework

Starts at 70 kg (154 lb) for 30 minutes of doing housework at 3.3 METs; enter your own weight and time.

Calories burned doing housework by weight and time

Kilocalories for doing housework at 3.3 METs (House cleaning, general), by body weight and minutes. Read across from your weight; the pace table below shows the other rows.

Calories burned doing housework at 3.3 METs, by body weight and duration
Body weight	15 min	30 min	45 min	1 hour	1.5 hours	2 hours
50 kg (110 lb)	41	83	124	165	248	330
60 kg (132 lb)	50	99	149	198	297	396
70 kg (154 lb)	58	116	173	231	347	462
80 kg (176 lb)	66	132	198	264	396	528
90 kg (198 lb)	74	149	223	297	446	594
100 kg (220 lb)	83	165	248	330	495	660
110 kg (243 lb)	91	182	272	363	545	726

Doing housework: calories by pace or effort

The Compendium rates doing housework on 11 lines, from 2 METs (Washing dishes) up to 4 METs (Laundry, moderate effort). Each row below is one of those codes with the calories it works out to.

Calories burned doing housework by pace or effort
Pace or effort	Compendium code	METs	30 min, 60 kg (132 lb)	30 min, 70 kg (154 lb)	30 min, 80 kg (176 lb)	1 hour, 70 kg (154 lb)
Washing dishes	05041	2	60	70	80	140
Laundry, folding and hanging	05090	2.3	69	81	92	161
General tidying, light effort	05040	2.5	75	88	100	175
Vacuuming	05043	3	90	105	120	210
Sweeping floors	05010	3.3	99	116	132	231
Washing windows	05022	3.3	99	116	132	231
House cleaning, general	05030	3.3	99	116	132	231
Heavy or major cleaning	05020	3.5	105	123	140	245
Mopping	05021	3.5	105	123	140	245
Cooking or food preparation	05049	3.5	105	123	140	245
Laundry, moderate effort	05092	4	120	140	160	280

The Compendium’s own wording for each code: 05041, “Wash dishes, standing or in general (not broken into stand/walk components)”; 05090, “Laundry, fold or hang clothes, put clothes in washer or dryer, packing suitcase, washing clothes by hand, implied standing, light effort”; 05040, “Cleaning, general (straightening up, changing linen, carrying out trash), light effort”; 05043, “Vacuuming, general, moderate effort”; 05010, “Cleaning, sweeping carpet or floors, general”; 05022, “Cleaning windows, washing windows, general”; 05030, “Cleaning, house or cabin, general, moderate effort”; 05020, “Cleaning heavy or major (e.g., wash car, clean garage), moderate effort”; 05021, “Cleaning, mopping, standing, moderate effort”; 05049, “Cooking or food preparation, moderate effort”; 05092, “Laundry, moderate effort”.

What changes the number for doing housework

Pace is the biggest lever. The hardest listed way of doing housework (Laundry, moderate effort) is rated at 4 METs, 2.0 times the 2 METs of the gentlest (Washing dishes). For a 70 kg (154 lb) person that is 280 kcal an hour against 140 kcal.

Body weight is the second: the same 3.3 METs of doing housework for 30 minutes comes to 83 kcal at 50 kg (110 lb) and 182 kcal at 110 kg (243 lb). To reach 100 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) takes about 26 minutes at the starting pace.

Laid out in half-hour terms for 70 kg (154 lb): washing dishes is 70 kcal; laundry, folding and hanging is 81 kcal; general tidying, light effort is 88 kcal; vacuuming is 105 kcal; sweeping floors is 116 kcal; washing windows is 116 kcal; house cleaning, general is 116 kcal; heavy or major cleaning is 123 kcal; mopping is 123 kcal; cooking or food preparation is 123 kcal; laundry, moderate effort is 140 kcal.

How the calories are worked out

The formula is calories = MET × body weight in kg × hours. A MET compares an activity with sitting quietly, which is 1 MET and is taken as roughly 1 kcal per kilogram per hour. That equivalence is an approximation, which is why every figure is rounded and called about.

For doing housework at 3.3 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) person for 30 minutes: 3.3 × 70 × 0.5 = 116 kcal. This is a gross figure: it includes the energy your body would spend at rest in the same time.

The MET values are those of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al., J Sport Health Sci 2024), read from its activity list on 2026-10-23 and copied with their codes. They are averages for adults; see how we calculate.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories does a 70 kg person burn doing housework in 30 minutes?

About 116 kcal at 3.3 METs (House cleaning, general). The whole range for doing housework on this page runs from 70 kcal (Washing dishes) to 140 kcal (Laundry, moderate effort) in the same half hour.

How many calories does doing housework burn in an hour?

At 3.3 METs, about 198 kcal for a 60 kg (132 lb) person, 231 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) and 264 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). Heavier people burn more because they move more mass.

How long does doing housework take to burn 100 calories?

For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, about 26 minutes at 3.3 METs (House cleaning, general). At the gentlest listed pace (Washing dishes, 2 METs) it takes 43 minutes, and at the hardest (Laundry, moderate effort, 4 METs) about 21.

Does the number for doing housework include the calories I would burn anyway?

Yes. Of the 3.3 METs, 1 is the resting cost, about 30% of the total here, so the activity itself adds about 81 of the 116 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb).

Why would my watch show a different number for doing housework?

A watch uses its own model, often with heart rate, age and sex, while this page uses the Compendium’s average. For doing housework that average already spans 11 entries from 2 to 4 METs, a 2.0-fold range, so a gap between the two is normal.

Which line in the table should I choose for doing housework?

Pick the row that best describes how you did it: this page starts from “House cleaning, general”, about 65% of the way up the 2 to 4 MET range. The rows are separate Compendium entries (05041, 05090, 05040, 05043, 05010, 05022, 05030, 05020, 05021, 05049, 05092).

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These are estimates for healthy adults from average MET values. How much you actually burn varies with your fitness, body composition, technique, terrain and conditions, so use the figures as a guide, not a measurement. This is not medical advice.