What is the Most Suitable Self Storage Unit Size for Me?
“What size self storage unit do I need?” is a common question that we are asked at Hippo Self Storage. If you would like personalised advise on this, CONTACT US today and we would be delighted to assist.
We have three different sizes of shipping container storage units at our Mordialloc site, near Moorabbin Airport, including 20ft, 10ft and 8ft shipping containers. Here are the specifications for each:
Shipping Container Storage Unit Sizes:
20ft shipping container self storage unit:
Internal dimensions: Approximately 5.9 metres long by 2.3 metres wide by 2.4 metres high
Area: Approximately 14 square metres
Volume: Approximately 33 cubic metres
10ft shipping container self storage unit:
Internal dimensions: Approximately 2.8 metres long by 2.3 metres wide by 2.4 metres high
Area: Approximately 6.5 square metres
Volume: Approximately 15 cubic metres
8ft shipping container self storage unit:
Internal dimensions: Approximately 2.3 metres long by 2.1 metres wide by 2.06 metres high
Area: Approximately 5 square metres
Volume: Approximately 10 cubic metres
Tips for Choosing the Right Size Self Storage Unit:
One major consideration in determining the most suitable unit size is obviously the amount of goods that a customer intends to store. To this end, the Self Storage Association of Australasia’s Space Estimator is a fantastic tool to assist estimate how much storage space is needed.
Many of the customers at our Mordialloc self storage site are moving or renovating their houses or are small business owners. They tend to have a lot of items to store. The 20ft container, our largest option, is subsequently the most popular unit size. If you are looking for a self storage unit for a three bedroom house, anecdotally this is the ideal size. A benefit of the 20ft container’s large size is that it is versatile in terms of accommodating bulky items such as sofas, dining room tables, kayaks and business goods.
The 10ft and 8ft containers are smaller and more affordable storage options. 10ft containers can be an excellent choice for storing the contents of a one bedroom apartment. Furthermore, both of these container sizes are particularly useful for customers who are mainly storing boxes of goods (for instance, archive documents). Whereas bulky items can take up a lot of storage space (like a home gym!), boxes are very efficient in that they don’t leave gaps of unused space.
We were storing items in one of the small containers and were surprised by how many boxes actually fit into it. Take, for example, heavy duty 52 litre moving boxes from Bunnings. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that an incredible 120 of these boxes could theoretically be stored in our smallest unit, the 8ft container! Note, however, that goods should always be stored in a safe and stable manner and it may not be possible to store as many boxes as this. This illustrates, however, that many boxes can fit into the smaller units.
If your storage requirement is at the borderline of needing a 10ft or 20ft container, it may be worth seeing if you can store one or two larger items with a family member or friend (if this is feasible!) That may be enough to mean that you can go with the smaller unit and reduce the storage cost. In another scenario, if you need just a little bit more storage space than a 20ft container, an 8ft container can be a cheap self storage option for the excess goods.
Finally, rest assured that, subject to availability, it is possible to switch unit sizes at Hippo Self Storage at no additional cost.
Everyone’s storage requirements are different. Please CONTACT US today to discuss which of our affordable self storage units is most suitable for you!