Cubic feet to Cubic metres (ft³ to m³)
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Cubic-feet-to-cubic-metres conversions translate US-customary natural-gas-utility, shipping-container-volume, HVAC-airflow, US-construction-trade, and US-customary refrigerator-and-freezer-and-storage capacity figures into the SI cubic-metre primary used for international engineering-and-construction documentation, ISO-and-EN compliance, and metric-convention utility-and-shipping documentation. A 1172 ft³ 20-foot intermodal-container translates to 33.2 m³ for international shipping-and-logistics documentation; a 22 ft³ residential refrigerator translates to 0.623 m³ for international SI-appliance documentation; a 800 CCF (80,000 ft³) annual-residential natural-gas translates to 2266 m³ for metric-convention utility documentation. The factor is exact at 1 ft³ = 0.028316846592 m³, fixed by the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement (1 ft = 0.3048 m exactly).
How to convert Cubic feet to Cubic metres
Formula
m³ = ft³ × 0.028317
To convert cubic-feet to cubic-metres, multiply the ft³ figure by 0.028317 — the factor exact at 0.028316846592 m³ per ft³ under the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement (1 ft = 0.3048 m exactly). For mental math, "ft³ × 0.0283" or the simpler "ft³ ÷ 35.3" both give close-to-exact figures: 1 ft³ ≈ 0.0283 m³, 100 ft³ ≈ 2.83 m³, 1000 ft³ ≈ 28.3 m³, 35.3 ft³ ≈ 1 m³. The conversion runs at every US-customary-ft³ source to international-SI-m³ destination boundary across shipping-container-volume, natural-gas-utility-billing, HVAC-airflow, and refrigerator-and-freezer-capacity documentation work in cross-international engineering practice globally for ISO 668 intermodal-container-and-cargo-volume documentation, EU-and-Asia-and-Latin-America-and-Australasia-and-Africa metric-convention natural-gas billing, and ISO-and-EN HVAC-engineering integration.
Worked examples
Example 1 — 1 ft³
One cubic foot equals exactly 0.028316846592 cubic metres, fixed by the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement (1 ft = 0.3048 m exactly). The factor is exact rather than measured.
Example 2 — 1172 ft³
One thousand one hundred seventy-two cubic feet — the internal-volume of a typical 20-foot intermodal-shipping container — converts to 33.2 m³ on the international SI shipping-and-logistics documentation. The ft³-figure is the US-customary ISO 668 primary; the m³-figure is the international SI shipping-and-logistics reference.
Example 3 — 22 ft³
Twenty-two cubic feet — a typical residential-refrigerator capacity — converts to 0.623 m³ or 623 litres on the international SI-appliance documentation. The ft³-figure is the US-customary appliance-marketing primary; the m³-and-L-figure is the international SI-appliance reference for international-appliance-market documentation.
ft³ to m³ conversion table
| ft³ | m³ |
|---|---|
| 1 ft³ | 0.0283 m³ |
| 2 ft³ | 0.0566 m³ |
| 3 ft³ | 0.085 m³ |
| 4 ft³ | 0.1133 m³ |
| 5 ft³ | 0.1416 m³ |
| 6 ft³ | 0.1699 m³ |
| 7 ft³ | 0.1982 m³ |
| 8 ft³ | 0.2265 m³ |
| 9 ft³ | 0.2549 m³ |
| 10 ft³ | 0.2832 m³ |
| 15 ft³ | 0.4248 m³ |
| 20 ft³ | 0.5663 m³ |
| 25 ft³ | 0.7079 m³ |
| 30 ft³ | 0.8495 m³ |
| 40 ft³ | 1.1327 m³ |
| 50 ft³ | 1.4158 m³ |
| 75 ft³ | 2.1238 m³ |
| 100 ft³ | 2.8317 m³ |
| 150 ft³ | 4.2475 m³ |
| 200 ft³ | 5.6634 m³ |
| 250 ft³ | 7.0792 m³ |
| 500 ft³ | 14.1584 m³ |
| 750 ft³ | 21.2376 m³ |
| 1000 ft³ | 28.3168 m³ |
| 2500 ft³ | 70.7921 m³ |
| 5000 ft³ | 141.5842 m³ |
Common ft³ to m³ conversions
- 1 ft³=0.0283 m³
- 10 ft³=0.2832 m³
- 100 ft³=2.8317 m³
- 500 ft³=14.1584 m³
- 1000 ft³=28.3168 m³
- 1172 ft³=33.1873 m³
- 2389 ft³=67.6489 m³
- 10000 ft³=283.1685 m³
- 100000 ft³=2831.6847 m³
- 1000000 ft³=28316.8466 m³
What is a Cubic foot?
The cubic foot (ft³, cu ft) is defined as exactly 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 ft = 0.028316846592 m³, with the figure exact under the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement that fixed 1 ft = 0.3048 m exactly. Equivalently, 1 ft³ = 28.316846592 litres = 28,316.846592 cubic-centimetres. The CCF (one hundred cubic feet, equal to 100 ft³ = 2.832 m³) is the standard US-natural-gas utility-billing unit; the MCF (one thousand cubic feet) is the standard US-natural-gas wholesale-trading unit. The cubic-feet-per-minute (CFM) is the standard US-customary HVAC airflow-rating unit. The cubic-yard (yd³ = 27 ft³ = 0.7646 m³) is the standard US-construction concrete-and-aggregate-volume unit. The cubic-inch (in³, 1/1728 ft³ ≈ 16.39 cm³) is used for engine-displacement in legacy US-customary automotive documentation (typical 350 in³ small-block-V8 = 5740 cc).
The cubic foot traces to historical English customary measurement, with the foot itself fixed at exactly 0.3048 m by the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement. The cubic foot follows by direct geometric construction as exactly 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 ft = 0.3048³ m³ = 0.028316846592 m³, with the figure exact under the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement. The unit was the universal English-customary bulk-volume unit through the early-modern era, surviving into modern US-customary engineering practice for natural-gas-volume billing (the universal US-utility natural-gas billing unit, with US natural-gas appliances and utility-meters specified in cubic feet and ccf = 100 cubic feet), shipping-container volume (typical 20-foot intermodal-container 1172 ft³ internal-volume, 40-foot container 2389 ft³), HVAC duct-and-airflow specifications (typical residential-HVAC airflow in CFM = cubic feet per minute), construction-trade material-volume specifications (concrete-and-aggregate volumes in cubic yards = 27 ft³), and US-customary refrigerator-and-freezer-and-storage capacity ratings (typical residential refrigerator 18-25 ft³). The cubic foot persists alongside the SI cubic metre in US-customary engineering documentation across natural-gas-utility, shipping-and-logistics, HVAC-airflow, and storage-capacity contexts globally.
US-customary natural-gas utility-billing globally — every US-residential-and-commercial-and-industrial natural-gas utility bill expresses gas-consumption in CCF (100 cubic feet) or therms under US-customary natural-gas conventions. Typical US-residential annual gas-consumption 600-1200 CCF (60-120 MCF); commercial gas-consumption 1000-10,000 CCF/year. Shipping-and-logistics intermodal-container volume: 20-foot intermodal-container 1172 ft³, 40-foot intermodal-container 2389 ft³, 40-foot high-cube container 2696 ft³. HVAC airflow specifications in CFM (cubic-feet-per-minute): typical residential-HVAC supply-airflow at 350-1200 CFM, typical commercial-HVAC at 1000-50,000 CFM. US-construction-trade material-volume specifications: concrete-and-aggregate volumes in cubic-yards (= 27 ft³), with typical residential-foundation 5-15 cubic-yards (135-405 ft³), commercial-foundation 50-500 cubic-yards (1350-13,500 ft³). US-customary refrigerator-and-freezer-and-storage capacity ratings: typical residential refrigerator 18-25 ft³, typical chest freezer 5-15 ft³, typical large-residential freezer 20-25 ft³. US-customary firewood-and-mulch retail in cubic-yards (= 27 ft³). The cubic foot is the universal US-customary bulk-volume unit, with the cubic metre dominating SI-and-international-engineering documentation.
What is a Cubic metre?
The cubic metre (m³) is defined as exactly 1 m × 1 m × 1 m by direct geometric construction from the SI metre, with the metre itself fixed by the 1983 17th CGPM definition (distance travelled by light in vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second). Equivalently, 1 m³ = 1000 litres = 10⁶ cm³ = 10⁹ mm³ = 35.31466672 ft³. Submultiples follow standard SI prefix conventions: the cubic decimetre (dm³ = 1 litre) at 10⁻³ m³ for everyday-bulk-volume work, the cubic centimetre (cm³ = mL) at 10⁻⁶ m³ for small-volume work, the cubic millimetre (mm³) at 10⁻⁹ m³ for micro-fluidics-and-micro-pipetting work. Multiples include the cubic kilometre (km³, 10⁹ m³) for environmental-and-geological-bulk-volume work, with typical-Antarctic-glacier-volumes at 10⁵-10⁶ km³ scale. The cubic metre is the universal SI-derived bulk-volume unit, with consistent geometric-construction relationships across the entire SI prefix system.
The cubic metre is the SI-derived bulk-volume unit defined since the 1799 establishment of the metric system in revolutionary France as exactly 1 m × 1 m × 1 m = 1000 dm³ = 1000 litres. The metre itself was redefined at the 17th CGPM in 1983 as the distance travelled by light in vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second, transitively redefining the cubic metre via the m³ = m × m × m geometric construction. The unit became the universal SI bulk-volume reference for engineering-and-construction-and-utility-and-natural-gas documentation through the twentieth-century metrication transitions across continental Europe, Asia, Australasia, Latin America, Africa, and parts of North America. Modern international engineering-and-construction documentation uses m³ universally for concrete-and-aggregate-volume, shipping-container-volume (20-foot intermodal-container 33.2 m³ internal-volume, 40-foot container 67.7 m³), natural-gas-utility-billing in metric-convention countries (typical EU residential annual natural-gas 1500-3000 m³), HVAC airflow in m³/h or m³/s, and bulk-storage-tank capacity ratings (typical residential heating-oil tank 0.5-1 m³, typical industrial liquid-storage tank 100-10,000 m³). The cubic metre is the universal SI-derived bulk-volume unit globally for engineering work, with the cubic foot dominating US-customary practice.
Construction-and-engineering globally — every modern construction-trade document expresses concrete-and-aggregate volumes in cubic-metres under EU-and-Asia-and-Latin-America-and-Australasia-and-Africa metric-convention construction conventions. Typical residential-foundation concrete-pour 5-15 m³, typical commercial-foundation 50-500 m³, typical large-bridge-and-dam concrete-pour 1000-100,000 m³. Shipping-and-logistics intermodal-container volume globally: 20-foot intermodal-container 33.2 m³ internal-volume, 40-foot intermodal-container 67.7 m³, 40-foot high-cube container 76.4 m³. Natural-gas-utility-billing in metric-convention countries: typical EU-residential annual natural-gas 1500-3000 m³, commercial natural-gas 10,000-100,000 m³/year. HVAC airflow in m³/h or m³/s under EU-and-Asia-and-Latin-America-and-Australasia-and-Africa HVAC conventions. Bulk-storage-tank capacity ratings: typical residential heating-oil tank 0.5-1 m³, typical industrial liquid-storage tank 100-10,000 m³, typical petrochemical-and-water-utility storage-tank 1000-1,000,000 m³. Environmental-and-geological-bulk-volume in km³ (= 10⁹ m³): typical-Antarctic-glacier-volumes at 10⁵-10⁶ km³ scale, typical-major-reservoir-volumes at 10-100 km³ scale. International-engineering documentation universally uses m³ for bulk-volume work, with the cubic-foot dominating US-customary practice.
Real-world uses for Cubic feet to Cubic metres
US-customary ft³ shipping-container-volume translated to m³ for international SI shipping-and-logistics documentation
US-customary ft³ shipping-container-volume figures from intermodal-container documentation translate to m³ for international SI shipping-and-logistics documentation under ISO 668 intermodal-container-and-corner-fitting conventions when intermodal containers are integrated with EU-and-Asia-and-Latin-America-and-Australasia-and-Africa shipping pipelines. A 1172 ft³ 20-foot container translates to 33.2 m³; a 2389 ft³ 40-foot container translates to 67.7 m³; a 2696 ft³ 40-foot high-cube container translates to 76.4 m³. The conversion runs at every US-customary-ft³ container source to international-SI-m³ shipping-and-logistics documentation step.
US-customary ft³ natural-gas-utility-billing translated to m³ for metric-convention utility documentation
US-customary ft³ natural-gas-utility-billing figures (CCF = 100 ft³, MCF = 1000 ft³) translate to m³ for metric-convention utility documentation under EU-and-Asia-and-Latin-America-and-Australasia-and-Africa metric-convention natural-gas billing when US-source utility-data is integrated with international natural-gas-trading pipelines. A 800 CCF (80,000 ft³) annual-residential consumption translates to 2266 m³; a 10 MCF (10,000 ft³) commercial-monthly translates to 283 m³; a 100 MCF (100,000 ft³) industrial-monthly translates to 2832 m³. The conversion runs at every US-customary-CCF-and-MCF source to metric-convention-m³ utility documentation step.
US-customary ft³ HVAC-airflow translated to m³ for international SI HVAC documentation
US-customary ft³ HVAC-airflow figures (CFM = ft³ per minute) translate to m³ for international SI HVAC documentation under ISO-and-EN HVAC-engineering conventions when US-source HVAC equipment is exported or international-HVAC-installation requires SI documentation. A 1000 CFM (1000 ft³/min, equivalent to 60,000 ft³/h) residential-HVAC translates to 28.3 m³/min or 1699 m³/h; a 10,000 CFM commercial-HVAC translates to 283 m³/min or 16,987 m³/h. The conversion runs at every US-customary-CFM-and-ft³/h HVAC-source to international-SI-m³/min-and-m³/h HVAC documentation step.
US-customary ft³ refrigerator-and-freezer-capacity translated to m³ for international SI-appliance documentation
US-customary ft³ refrigerator-and-freezer-capacity figures from US-appliance documentation translate to m³ for international SI-appliance documentation under EU-and-Asia-and-Latin-America-and-Australasia-and-Africa metric-convention appliance specifications when US-market refrigerators-and-freezers are exported to international markets. A 22 ft³ residential refrigerator translates to 0.623 m³ or 623 litres; a 8 ft³ chest freezer translates to 0.227 m³ or 227 litres; a 25 ft³ large-residential-refrigerator translates to 0.708 m³ or 708 litres. The conversion runs at every US-customary-ft³ appliance-source to international-SI-m³ appliance documentation step.
When to use Cubic metres instead of Cubic feet
Use cubic-metres whenever the destination is international SI shipping-and-logistics documentation under ISO 668 intermodal-container conventions, metric-convention utility documentation under EU-and-Asia-and-Latin-America-and-Australasia-and-Africa metric-convention natural-gas billing conventions, international SI HVAC documentation under ISO-and-EN HVAC-engineering conventions, international SI-appliance documentation, or any international-engineering context where m³ is the standard reference unit. The cubic-metre is the universal SI-derived bulk-volume unit. Stay in cubic-feet when the destination is US-customary natural-gas-utility-billing under US-customary natural-gas conventions, US-customary HVAC-airflow specifications under AHRI conventions, US-construction-trade documents under US-IBC building-code submission conventions, US-customary refrigerator-and-freezer-and-storage capacity ratings, or any US-customary context where ft³-scale granularity matches everyday US-customary bulk-volume intuition. The conversion is the universal US-customary-to-SI bulk-volume scale-shift between ft³-source and m³-destination engineering documentation.
Common mistakes converting ft³ to m³
- Treating "1 ft³ = 1 m³" as a rough equivalence. The two units differ by a factor of about 35.3 (cubic-feet-to-cubic-metres), and substituting one for the other gives a 35-fold volume-magnitude error. The correct factor is 1 ft³ = 0.0283 m³ exactly under the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement.
- Confusing cubic-feet (ft³, a volume unit) with cubic-feet-per-minute (CFM, ft³/min, a flow-rate unit). HVAC-airflow specifications use CFM for supply-and-return airflow rates, while bulk-storage-and-shipping uses ft³ for total-volume. Substituting one for the other in HVAC-engineering documentation gives unit-error.
Frequently asked questions
How many m³ in 1 ft³?
One cubic foot equals exactly 0.028316846592 m³, fixed by the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement (1 ft = 0.3048 m exactly). The factor is exact rather than measured. The "1 ft³ ≈ 0.0283 m³" or "35.3 ft³ ≈ 1 m³" reference is universal in modern US-customary-to-SI bulk-volume conversion across shipping-and-logistics, natural-gas-utility, HVAC-airflow, and refrigerator-and-freezer-capacity documentation work.
How many m³ in 1172 ft³ (20-foot container)?
One thousand one hundred seventy-two cubic feet equals 33.2 m³. That is the internal-volume of a typical 20-foot intermodal-shipping container translated to international SI shipping-and-logistics documentation. The ft³-figure sits on the US-customary ISO 668 primary specification and the m³-figure sits on the international SI shipping-and-logistics reference under EU-and-Asia-and-Latin-America-and-Australasia-and-Africa shipping-and-logistics conventions.
How many m³ in 22 ft³ (residential refrigerator)?
Twenty-two cubic feet equals 0.623 m³ or 623 litres. That is a typical residential-refrigerator capacity translated to international SI-appliance documentation. The ft³-figure sits on the US-customary appliance-marketing primary specification and the m³-and-L-figure sits on the international SI-appliance reference for international-appliance-market documentation under EU-and-Asia-and-Latin-America-and-Australasia-and-Africa metric-convention appliance specifications.
Quick way to convert ft³ to m³ in my head?
Multiply the ft³ figure by 0.0283 (or divide by 35.3). For 1 ft³ that gives 0.0283 m³, for 35.3 ft³ that gives 1 m³, for 100 ft³ that gives 2.83 m³, for 1000 ft³ that gives 28.3 m³, for 1172 ft³ that gives 33.2 m³. The exact factor is 0.028316846592, with the rounded "× 0.0283" or "÷ 35.3" approximations within 0.05% of exact for everyday bulk-volume conversion work.
How many ft³ in 1 m³?
One cubic metre equals 35.31466672 cubic feet, the multiplicative inverse of 0.028316846592 m³ per ft³. The factor is exact under the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement.
When does ft³-to-m³ conversion appear in real work?
It appears in US-customary ft³ shipping-container-volume translated to m³ for international SI shipping-and-logistics documentation and in US-customary ft³ natural-gas-utility-billing translated to m³ for metric-convention utility documentation. It also appears in US-customary ft³ HVAC-airflow translated to m³ for international SI HVAC documentation and in US-customary ft³ refrigerator-and-freezer-capacity translated to m³ for international SI-appliance documentation. The conversion is one of the most-run US-customary-to-SI bulk-volume conversions globally.
How precise should ft³-to-m³ be for engineering work?
For engineering work the ft³-to-m³ conversion is exact (factor 0.028316846592 exactly under the 1959 international yard-and-pound agreement), and the precision allowance comes from the underlying source-measurement precision rather than the conversion itself. Most engineering documentation rounds to 4-5 significant figures (1 ft³ ≈ 0.02832 m³), which is sufficient for typical shipping-and-logistics, natural-gas-utility, HVAC-airflow, and appliance-capacity applications.