# How do I calculate the carbon footprint of an electric iron?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/electric-iron-carbon-footprint-per-piece

Add the aluminium soleplate, heating element, thermostat, plastic body and cord per iron with supplier figures. Add casting, moulding, assembly and testing energy, then divide by irons passed and report by wattage and type.

## Materials

- Die cast aluminium soleplate with coating.
- Heating element and thermostat.
- Plastic body, cord and plug.

## Process

- Die casting and machining if in-house.
- Moulding and assembly.
- Electrical safety testing and packing.

## Per piece

Report per iron with weight and type, dry or steam. The soleplate is usually the heaviest metal part.

## Worked example: electric iron unit per piece (one month)

- Electricity: 25,000 kWh x 0.710 = 17,750 kg CO2
- PNG: 1,000 SCM x 2.05 = 2,050 kg CO2
- Irons passed: 60,000
- Plant total: 19,800 / 60,000 = 0.330 kg CO2 per piece
- Add soleplate, element and body for the full figure

Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.

- [Product carbon footprint calculator](https://senseible.earth/calculators/product-carbon-footprint)
- [Electric kettle footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/electric-kettle-carbon-footprint-per-unit)
- [Aluminium die casting footprint](https://senseible.earth/answers/aluminium-die-casting-carbon-footprint-per-kg)
- [Automobile industry](https://senseible.earth/industries/automobile)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Product Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/standards), [ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org)](https://www.iso.org), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults)](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-database/?lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.