What is a Cubic Metre and Why it Matters for Home and Office Removals
Moving house or office? Well, part of your preparation for the big move is knowing how much space you need for all your belongings, as this will impact removal costs. Before you hire moving and transport services, you’d need to have a good idea of how many cubic metres can fit your stuff. But what exactly is a cubic metre and how do you calculate it?
Here, we’ll go through everything you need to know about this metric unit, including why it’s important when you’re moving to a new location.
What Is a Cubic Metre?
A cubic metre is a standard unit of volume in the international system. It’s expressed using the symbol CBM or m3. One cubic metre is a block of space with a height of 1 meter, a width of 1 meter and a depth of 1 meter.
The number of cubic units your furniture occupies determines how well it can fit in the new room you’re moving it into. This measurement is particularly important for furniture removalists, as it helps determine the appropriate truck size for the moving job. In removals, the cubic metre is used because furniture items and moving boxes also have depth. Many of them can also be stacked so the height or depth becomes a huge factor in utilising space.
To visualise a cubic metre, think of a huge dice or cube with each side as long as your arm’s length. Another way to imagine a cubic metre is by stacking eight medium-sized moving boxes into two levels of four. This mental image provides a practical perspective on the space occupied by a single cubic meter.
How Many Cubic Meters Do Common Household and Office Furniture Occupy?
To help you get a more accurate estimate, here are the cubic meter measurements of some of the most common household and office items:
A fridge typically occupies around 1.20 cubic meters, while a queen bed requires approximately 1.40 cubic meters. Larger furniture items, such as a 3-seater couch, can take up around 2.20 cubic meters, while chairs generally require 0.15 cubic meters each. These measurements serve as a quick reference when you’re planning for home removals. They can help you estimate the volume your furniture may occupy and make the move to your new home smooth and fast.
For office removals, consider the standard sizes of office equipment and furniture. For example, office desks can range from 0.5 to 1.5 cubic meters depending on their length and width. Filing cabinets with four drawers typically occupy 0.3 cubic meters. Bigger ones can take up as much as 0.6 cubic meters of space. Keep in mind that desks, filing cabinets, conference tables and other office furniture and equipment vary in dimensions. You must exert effort to calculate their cubic meter requirements for more efficient removals.
Being aware of these standard sizes allows for a more accurate estimation of the space needed for home or office moves. This helps you select an appropriately sized moving truck and minimise the risk of additional expenses associated with miscalculations.
How to Calculate Cubic Meters?
When it comes to removals, you can’t merely guess how many cubic units you’ll need. You’d want to be as precise with your calculations as possible to avoid under or over-estimation. If you underestimate, you’ll have to deal with extra costs. If you overestimate, you waste money on unutilised space.
The volume of regularly shaped furniture and moving boxes is easy to compute. It involves multiplying the length, width and height of an object measured in meters.
Irregularly shaped ones take a bit more effort to measure. You’d have to imagine putting them inside a box and getting that box’s dimensions. Take a stool with four legs. Theoretically, its total volume would be the volume of the seat plus the volume of the four legs. But when moving, the volume would be calculated by multiplying the length and width of the seat with the height of the stool.
You’d also need to keep in mind that most furniture and equipment can’t be stacked like moving boxes, meaning they’ll take up a bit more room.
An Easier Method for Calculating Volume in Cubic Meters
Aside from dealing with irregularly shaped items, converting units can also be a headache. Not everyone enjoys conversions from feet, inches, yards or cm to meters. One way to calculate volume in cubic metres with less worry is to use free digital tools. There are free online calculators and conversion programs that have cubic meter formulas for different units.
OnlineConversion.com, Calculator Soup and Metric Conversions are some free tools you can use. They can convert any unit in the international system. However, they still require manual computations and provide theoretical values for volume—not the cubic meter measurement required for estimating moving rates.
To determine the cost of removals without computing the individual volume of your items, use Sydney Moving’s free tool – the Moving Cost Calculator. Just choose the type of furniture, equipment and moving boxes you’ll be moving, indicate their quantities and provide your moving details to get an instant quote. You don’t have to measure each one or worry about converting cm to cbm.
What Truck Size Do I Need for My House Move?
To avoid multiple transports, make sure to get the right truck size on moving day. You wouldn’t want to have to come back for items that don’t fit, as this will entail additional costs.
The size of standard moving trucks ranges from 8 cubic meters to 70 cubic meters. For example, a truck with a 15 cbm capacity would be suitable if all your belongings can fit inside a single-car garage. Opt for a 30 cbm truck if you need a double-car garage’s worth of space.
To save you all the headaches, get a free quote from professional removalists. Sydney Moving determines the amount of space you need and which truck size is ideal for your move using proprietary tools and industry knowledge. We also give you access to professional removalists who know how to maximise truck space and make the most out of every cubic meter available.
Get a Free Quote for Furniture Removals
Understanding how much a cubic meter occupies is important for efficient and cost-effective moving. You can do manual calculations or use digital tools. Whichever method you choose, you must be precise in estimating your space requirements for a smooth transition to your new location.
Save yourself the hassle by getting a free quote from Sydney Moving. Simply use our contact form to request a quotation based on your inventory list. The method we use for calculating the cubic meters required is fairly accurate, so you get a reliable quote without any worry of additional charges on your moving day.
