Elevator vs Stairs Calculator
Compare the time and calories saved by taking the elevator or the stairs.
Calories burned per year on stairs
10,608 kcal
About 10.2 kcal per trip over 60 steps.
Calories per week on stairs
204 kcal
Time on stairs per week
20 min
60 seconds per climb.
Time on stairs per year
17.3 h
Time in the elevator per year
13 h
Assuming 45 seconds per trip including the wait.
Time difference per year
4.3 h
The elevator is faster overall.
- Runs entirely in your browser
- No data is stored
- Free forever
What is this calculator?
This calculator compares two everyday choices: waiting for the lift or walking up. Enter the floors you travel, your trips per day and the days you do it each week, and it shows the calories the stairs would burn, the time each option takes and the weekly and annual totals. Good for deciding whether the climb is worth it.
How does it work?
Each floor is treated as about 15 steps. Stairs burn roughly 0.17 calories per step and take about one second per step; a lift trip is estimated at 45 seconds including the wait. Those per-trip figures are scaled by your trips, days per week and 52 weeks a year.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories do stairs burn?+
Roughly 0.17 calories per step for an average adult, so a four-floor climb of about 60 steps burns close to ten calories.
How many steps are in a floor?+
This uses 15 steps per floor, a common figure for residential and office buildings. Taller lobby levels can run higher.
Why is the elevator 45 seconds?+
It bundles the wait, the doors and the ride. Busy towers are slower and a two-floor hop is faster, so treat it as a middle estimate.
Do stairs really beat the lift on time?+
For a few floors, often yes, once you count waiting. Above five or six floors the lift usually wins on time but burns nothing.
Does going down count?+
This models the climb up, which is where nearly all the effort and calorie burn happens.
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