Cubic feet or cubic metres? Converting removals volume and weight

The conversion factors

The foot and the inch are defined exactly in metric units (1 ft = 0.3048 m and 1 in = 2.54 cm), so these factors never change. The values below are rounded to the digits shown:

1 m³    = 35.3147 ft³
1 ft³   = 0.0283 m³
1 m³    = 1,000,000 cm³
1 ft³   = 1,728 in³
1 kg    = 2.2046 lb
1 tonne = 1,000 kg = 2,204.6 lb

For mental arithmetic during a survey, 1 m³ ≈ 35 ft³ is close enough. For any figure that goes on a quote, use 35.31.

Converting an item, step by step

Work out the volume in one unit system from start to finish and convert only the total. Converting each dimension separately and rounding along the way adds an error that grows across a whole inventory.

metric:   220 × 90 × 85 cm three-seat sofa
          (220 × 90 × 85) ÷ 1,000,000 = 1.683 m³
          1.683 × 35.3147 = 59.4 ft³

imperial: 87 × 35 × 33 in (the same sofa, rounded to whole inches)
          (87 × 35 × 33) ÷ 1,728 = 58.2 ft³

The gap of about 1.3 ft³ between the two answers comes only from rounding the inches. That is the reason to measure in one system and convert the total once.

Estimating weight from volume

When an item cannot be weighed, its weight is estimated from its volume and an average density. Loduvo uses 110 kg/m³ as the average for household goods, which is about 3.1 kg, or 6.9 lb, per cubic foot.

110 kg/m³ ≈ 3.1 kg/ft³ ≈ 6.9 lb/ft³
20 m³ (706 ft³) × 110 kg/m³ ≈ 2,200 kg (about 4,850 lb)

The average is a planning figure, not a fact about any particular item. Books, appliances, marble and safes can be several times denser, while upholstered furniture is lighter than its box size suggests. That is why an estimated weight is flagged for review on the larger lines, and why dense items should be weighed or looked up.

A weight and a volume that together give a density outside 10–700 kg/m³ are almost always a typing error. When the system's estimate falls outside that range, Loduvo replaces it with the average and flags the line; when a person enters such a pair, they are asked to confirm it before it is saved.

Comparing van capacity in both units

A vehicle's capacity has two numbers: a volume and a payload, the weight it may carry. Convert both before comparing them with a load, and remember that the full catalogue volume is never usable: when matching vehicles, Loduvo counts 85% of it, leaving the rest for the gaps between items, the blankets and the space by the doors.

catalogue volume: 20 m³ = 706 ft³
usable at 85%:    17 m³ = 600 ft³

Payload is usually given in kilograms or tonnes in the vehicle's documents. Compare the estimated weight of the load with it separately; a van can reach its payload long before it looks full.

Mistakes that distort a volume

Most volume errors are not in the arithmetic but in the units around it:

• Mixing units in one inventory: a dimension entered in inches where centimetres are expected makes that item about 16 times too small in volume, because 2.54³ ≈ 16.4.
• Confusing cubic centimetres with cubic metres: forgetting to divide by 1,000,000 makes a sofa the size of a warehouse. Whenever the dimensions are known, Loduvo calculates the volume itself from them in centimetres, so this step cannot be skipped.
• Rounding each line before adding them up. Keep the decimals until the total; Loduvo stores line volumes to 4 decimal places (0.0001 m³, a tenth of a litre), so a small box is never rounded away to nothing.
• Treating the volume total as the space the load needs. The box volumes of the items are not the room they take up in a van; the margins that cover the difference are explained in the volume guide.