The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offer simple web-based tools that provide energy efficiency assessments for consumers wishing to manage their energy consumption.

Energy Star® Home Energy Yardstick

The EPA's Home Energy Yardstick calculates home energy use and assigns a score compared against similar homes. The performance-based home assessment takes home information provided by the consumer, such as utility bill data, and calculates a score using a statistical algorithm that determines the effects of local weather, home size and number of occupants on home energy use. The Yardstick score can then be increased by improving the energy efficiency of home features and/or equipment or by making changes in energy consumption. 

Visit the Home Energy Yardstick website    

Home Energy Saver™

The DOE's Home Energy Saver calculator was the first web-based tool for calculating energy use in residential buildings with an annual average of one million website visitors. The web service provides customized estimates of residential energy use, energy bills and CO2 emissions, based on building description information provided by the user. The service identifies potential energy-saving strategies and ranks them in order of cost-effectiveness.

Visit the Home Energy Saver website