Storage unit size calculator.

What size storage unit do you need?

Storage units are priced by floor area, but capacity is floor area x height. U-Haul gives its units at about 8 ft high: a 5x5 is 25 sq ft and 200 cu ft, a 5x10 is 50 sq ft and 400 cu ft, a 10x10 is 100 sq ft and 800 cu ft, a 10x15 is 150 sq ft and 1,200 cu ft, a 10x20 is 200 sq ft and 1,600 cu ft, and a 10x30 is 300 sq ft and 2,400 cu ft. This tool picks the smallest unit whose volume covers your belongings plus an allowance for an aisle.

Worked example 1. 700 cu ft of belongings with a 15% aisle allowance is 700 x 1.15 = 805 cu ft. The 10x10 holds 800, which is not enough, so the answer is the 10 x 15 (1,200 cu ft).

Worked example 2. Everything fits a 15 ft moving truck, which U-Haul lists at 764 cu ft and equal to a 10 x 10 x 8 ft room. With no allowance the tool picks the 10 x 10 unit (800 cu ft). With an aisle allowance of 5% or more it moves up to the next size.

The "A truck load" mode picks by volume, so it can land one size above U-Haul's published equivalent storage room. For example the 26 ft truck is 1,682 cu ft, which is more than the 1,600 cu ft in a 10 x 20, so the tool shows 10 x 25 where U-Haul lists a 10 x 20.

U-Haul's guidance when you are between sizes is to take the larger one: it leaves room for safer packing, ventilation and an aisle to reach things. A smaller unit works if belongings can be taken apart and stacked, but tightly packed items are hard to reach.