Sam Whitaker
Sam Whitaker is the editorial byline HandyFigures's small team uses for its guides on home project materials and the cost of running a home.
What the guides cover
Two kinds of household math. First, quantities and costs for common DIY projects: gallons of paint from measured surfaces, coverage and coats; boxes of flooring from area, overage and carton size; bags or cubic yards of mulch, soil or gravel from measured beds. Second, home energy costs from federal data: what electricity costs in each state, what a typical bill looks like, and what it costs to run an appliance or charge an electric vehicle at home. How to build, wire, plumb or structure something is a different kind of question, and the guides say so rather than guess.
How the guides are checked
Coverage and product figures come from manufacturer data sheets and labels, planting and soil guidance from university extension services, and energy figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Department of Energy, ENERGY STAR and fueleconomy.gov. Each guide links its sources and states the data period it uses. Worked examples use sample measurements so the arithmetic can be checked, and the label on the product you buy takes priority over any general figure.
How the tools treat your data
Every calculator on HandyFigures runs in your browser. Room sizes, bed dimensions and prices are never uploaded, logged or sold; saved projects live in your own browser's storage.
Start with these
- Residential electricity rates by state
- Average electric bill by state
- How much it costs to run an appliance
- How much paint for a 12x12 room
- Flooring waste percentages by layout
- How many bags of mulch in a cubic yard
The calculators are the paint calculator, the flooring calculator and the mulch and soil calculator. More about how the site is built and funded is on the About page. If a guide gets a number wrong, tell us.