Choosing a Storage Unit Size
Deciding on a storage unit size can be tricky, because you’ll probably have to arrange a space before boxing up all your stuff and shipping it to the storage location. Estimating just how much volume you’ll need can be quite difficult. Of course, you can always err on the side of caution and order a bigger unit than you think you’ll really want but more space costs more money. If you can do it, estimating fairly precisely will cut down on costs.
First of all, make an inventory of all the stuff that needs moving to storage. It’s always a good idea anyway, because sooner or later having a list of everything in your storage unit will come in handy. You might not remember whether or not you put something in there or you may have to decide what needs to be shipped to a new home in the future. It’ll also help you make sure all the boxes and packages arrive safely at the unit.
Take a box and fill it with items that you want to store. How much of the inventory volume can you fit in there? Is it one quarter or closer to one tenth? Answering this question will give you a rough idea how many boxes you’ll need in total. Allow one or two extra boxes as a safety margin, then calculate the total volume.
To calculate volume of a box in cubic feet, just multiply the three box measurements- width, depth, and height in feet. If a box is 15 inches wide, that’s 1ft 3 inches, or 1.25 feet. If it’s 30 inches long, that’s 2.5 feet. One foot is twelve inches, so take the number of inches and divide it by 12 to get the measurement in feet. If all this arithmetic seems complicated, you can use an online volume calculator.
The size of storage unit will need to be much more than your total volume calculation. The boxes and furniture you’re moving to storage may not fit exactly into a 10′ by 15′ unit and if you will want access to your things, there will need to be at least one walkway through the box towers. To a degree, it is possible to reduce the need for clear spaces by putting high priority boxes towards the unit door- how much path space needs to be left depends on how frequently you will want access to the boxes at the back.
Airspace will also help your items dry out after a spell of damp or humid weather. All good storage units keep the rain out but humidity is harder to control, and wooden furniture and items stored in cardboard boxes can be vulnerable.
The smallest long term storage unit commonly available is 5′ by 5′. This is enough for one small piece of furniture (not a bed or a full sized sofa). The contents of most individual rooms in a medium sized home can be easily stored in a 5′ x 10′ unit. All the furniture in a big house can usually be slotted into a 10′ by 30′ unit. The same space will hold the contents of anything up to five or six offices, but that’s just a rough rule of thumb. Everyone’s home is different and offices vary widely in the way they are outfitted, so it’s best to make your own calculations.
