Moving Calculator NZ | Calculate Your Moving Volume | CityMove
The sofa you'd forgotten about in the spare room. The storage boxes stacked high in the garage. Those three kitchen appliances you rarely even use. Somehow there are now 20 more boxes than you were expecting!
One of the biggest questions on people's lips when planning a move is: "How much will this actually cost?"
The answer will vary depending on your individual situation, but one of the most helpful factors when trying to figure this out is having a good idea of how much space your belongings will actually take up.
This is where a moving calculator – or cubic metre calculator as it's also known – can make planning much more straightforward.
What is a Moving Calculator?
A moving calculator works by helping you estimate the volume of your belongings, most commonly measured in cubic metres (m).
By moving on from a vague "I'm in a three-bedroom house" to accurately estimating what items such as furniture, appliances, boxes, etc that you will realistically need transporting to your new place, CityMove as one example uses an online moving calculator so that you can click on and move specific items in each room in your home – from the bedroom to living room, kitchen to dining room, laundry, garage and outside. This enables you to "click on" beds, wardrobes, sofas, dining tables, fridges, washing machines, boxes, bikes and other such items and the moving calculator gives you an estimate of your total volume of moving items to give you an idea of the size of vehicle that you might need to transport them to your new abode.
Why Cubic Metre Matters When You're Moving
Moving companies need more than simply a number of rooms in your home to plan your move.
Two houses with exactly the same number of bedrooms could contain radically different amounts of furniture.
Consider a family with minimal furniture, minimal belongings, and no items stored in the garage, versus a family with a large L-shaped couch, numerous wardrobes, a treadmill, various garden tools and an overflowing garage. You'll clearly need a significantly larger truck for the latter.
Cubic metres provide moving professionals with an accurate representation of the space that will be needed in the truck to accommodate your move.
For example, their CityMove range of removal vehicles is anything between a 2T van that can fit approximately 10m of gear, to a 12T truck that could contain just less than 57m of goods. It’s therefore best to have a rough estimate of the volume of your possessions so that when you call to book you aren’t either given a truck that’s too small (in which case you'll spend the weeks before you move in an agonizing state of searching for more space) or charged out a higher fee than you really need for a much larger vehicle than required.
How to Calculate Your Moving Volume
The fundamental principle for calculating volume is straightforward:
Length × Width × Height = Cubic Metres
For example, if an item measures:
* 2 metres long
* 1 metre wide
* 1 metre high
Its volume would be:
2 × 1 × 1 = 2m
While this calculation works for a single item, measuring every piece of furniture manually can be tedious and error-prone. This is why a moving calculator is so convenient. Instead of getting out the tape measure for every box and item of furniture, you can simply select common household items.
What Should You Include in Your Moving Calculator?
Many people underestimate how much space even smaller items take up when combined. Be sure to factor in the following:
Bedroom
* Beds and mattresses
* Bed frames
* Bedside tables
* Dressers and wardrobes
* Mirrors and chests of drawers
Living Room
* Sofas and armchairs
* Coffee tables
* TV units and stands
* Speakers and audio equipment
* Wall units
Kitchen
* Refrigerators
* Microwaves and other appliances
* Cookware, crockery, glassware and containers
Laundry
* Washing machines
* Dryers
* Ironing boards and baskets
Garage and Outdoor areas
This category often contains the most surprises!
* Bicycles and tricycles
* Lawn mowers and edgers
* Ladders and shelving units
* Wheelbarrows and gardening equipment
* Exercise machines (treadmills, bikes etc.)
* Boxes and Bags
Don't forget all the packed cartons, suitcases, backpack, storage totes, and any other containers holding your belongings. A good estimate includes everything that needs to be loaded onto the truck.
How Much Extra Truck Space Do you Need?
You still need to consider not all the furniture comes in perfectly spaced boxes and sometimes you just need to take things out of drawers for transport. There's also wasted space when things don't fit together snugly and your movers do need space to get around to be able to move items efficiently.
We advise adding 10-20% extra space on to whatever your cubic metre calculation is.
So if you figure your contents are around 25 cubic metres, you probably wouldn’t need to book exactly a 25m3 truck you would perhaps need something closer to a 30m3 truck for practical purposes.
Will a Moving Calculator give me the Exact Price?
No, at this point the moving calculator is a useful tool for planning purposes and giving you an estimate to work with. Your actual moving quote will be influenced by a lot more factors, including; actual volume and furniture types, total distance from origin to destination, easy of access at both locations (e.g.
Stairs, parking), date of move, and additional services required, etc.
After your estimate you will need to get a professional moving quote from us. For moving quotes CityMove will require additional information including your name, contact details, your moving date, your origin and destination details, and any other specific requirements for your move.
Why use a Moving Calculator anyway?
It will help take the guesswork out of your house, apartment or office move. Once you have the details from the calculator, you will be able to have a more realistic plan for selecting your moving van/truck size, have a good idea of what to put into boxes for moving, better prepare your budget for moving, and be a lot more confident in when to book your movers. If the result is higher than you anticipated, there is still time to plan your de cluttering, to give away or sell off unwanted contents or to get a larger sized vehicle booked to transport your possessions to their new destination.
Planning a house, apartment or office move?
Ready to get an idea of your moving needs and space requirements? Use the CityMove cubic metre calculator now to prepare for an efficient move in New Zealand.
Calculate Your Moving Volume with CityMove
Once you have an estimate of your required volume, you can proceed with requesting a professional moving quote and have a conversation with the CityMove team about your unique requirements.
The more accurately you prepare for your move, the fewer surprises you're likely to encounter on the day.
