It is estimated that a 150-pound person can burn up to 200 calories per hour while doing daily house chores. This article will detail how an individual’s weight and the intensity and duration of the activity are all variables to consider that will affect how many calories are burned while tidying up.
There are many ways to clean a home – and it can often feel like a work out! No surprise there…because it is a workout! Some chores will burn more calories than others, but it’s guaranteed that moving and picking up around the home will expend some extra energy.
Calories burned Cleaning the House Calculator
How many calories do you burn cleaning the house?
The amount of calories you burn while tidying can be different depending not only on your age and weight, but also on what task you’re performing and for how long.
According to Livestrong.com, a 150-lb. individual may burn 99 calories doing 30 minutes of housework. A 200-lb. individual, however, would burn 131 calories in the same amount of time.
As mentioned earlier, duration also affects how many calories are burned cleaning the house. The numbers above would be doubled if the task is performed for 60 minutes – and tripled if you decide to go on for 90 minutes!
Lastly, the intensity at which the activity being performed will also have an effect on the caloric output of cleaning up. For example, stationary cleaning, like washing dishes, will burn less calories than chores that require more movement. You can also increase the intensity of a task by moving quickly or engaging more muscles when moving.
What household chores burn the most calories?
Jobs around that house that keep you moving are going to burn more calories – that’s simple physics!
Vacuuming and mopping get the whole body moving. Each of these chores burn around 160-170 calories per hour. Additionally, if there is a large space that needs to be cleaned, you will see a higher burn rate on your calorie counter.
Next – what better way is there to burn calories around the house other than outside? Two outdoor activities that can burn around 275 calories an hour are washing the car and cleaning windows. What a great way to get some exercise and fresh air!
For maximum calorie deficit, if you have a lot of stairs in your home, carrying laundry or groceries to and in the house can burn up to 440 calories per hour. Adding some extra weight to your laundry basket can help build more muscle, effectively kicking the burn into high gear.
How many calories are burned by sweeping the floor by hand?
There are certain chores that can be done a little differently than normal that will boost the calories burned cleaning the house.
Rather than sweeping standing up, which burns around 150 calories per hour, sweeping or scrubbing the floors on your knees and closer to the floor can double that number, coming in at around 240 calories per hour.
Because being on the floor engages more muscles and becomes more of a full-body movement, this method of cleaning the floor is a great way to up that calorie expenditure.
How many calories are burned by cleaning the bathroom?
Bathrooms often have a lot of corners, surfaces and fixtures that will need to be scrubbed, wiped and sprayed down. As you can imagine, or may have experienced, cleaning the bathroom may break you into a sweat.
Because there is more elbow grease needed to get the bathroom squeaky clean, this activity burns around 240 calories per hour, on average, making it one of the more labor-intensive household chores.
Of course, the bathtub and shower require the most scrubbing top to bottom, so spending more time in this area will ensure a high calorie burn. It’s also understood that smaller bathrooms won’t require the same amount of work, and may only take a half hour to clean fully.
Can I lose weight by cleaning the house everyday?
Losing weight, as a concept, is rather simple. One simple needs to create a calorie deficit in order to see weight loss.
A calorie deficit means that when you eat and drink less calories than you burn, this will add up over time and result in the desired shedding of pounds. On the other hand, if you consume more calories than you burn, you may gain weight over time.
According to WebMD.com, a general guideline for healthy weight loss, a deficit of about 500 calories per day is a great goal. This will add up to about 1 pound a week and also assuming the daily consumption of at least 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day for women and 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day for men.
With that being said, if you perform any of the above mentioned chores long enough each day to burn 500 calories, it is totally possible to lose weight over time – especially if you are performing chores every day!
While cleaning the house everyday is a great way to burn calories, it would be important to ensure you’re creating enough of a deficit to make a difference. And do you have enough house to clean every day to create the deficit needed?
In the end, it may be more feasible to combine calories burned cleaning house with another regular exercise to meet your health and weight goals. It really depends on how hard you want to work while cleaning those floors and surfaces!
