About the Cubic Feet to Cubic Meters
This cubic feet to cubic meters converter turns a volume in ft³ into m³ and also works in reverse, so you can switch between US and metric volume figures in one place. Along with cubic meters you get liters, cubic yards and US gallons, which covers most practical uses.
It is useful for shipping and freight quotes (container loads and CBM are metric, but many US product dimensions are in feet), moving-truck and storage-unit sizing, refrigerator and freezer capacity, HVAC room volumes, and natural gas bills that switch between hundreds of cubic feet (CCF) and cubic meters.
The factor is exact: a foot is defined as 0.3048 m, so one cubic foot is 0.3048³ = 0.028316846592 m³. Going the other way, one cubic meter holds about 35.3147 cubic feet.
With the default inputs, the cubic meters is 2.8317 m³. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the cubic feet to cubic meters
- 1Enter the volume in cubic feet.
- 2Read the result in cubic meters, plus liters, cubic yards and US gallons.
- 3To convert the other way, type cubic meters in the second field.
- 4Use the table for quick lookups of common volumes.
Formula and method
The international foot is exactly 0.3048 m. A cubic foot is a cube 1 ft on each side, so its volume is 0.3048 × 0.3048 × 0.3048 = 0.028316846592 m³. Multiply cubic feet by that factor to get cubic meters, or divide cubic meters by it (≈ × 35.3147) to get cubic feet.
The extras follow from exact definitions: 1 m³ = 1,000 L, 1 cubic yard = 27 ft³, and 1 US gallon = 3.785411784 L, so 1 ft³ ≈ 7.48 US gallons.
- ft³
- Cubic feet (cu ft)
- m³
- Cubic meters (also called CBM in shipping)
Worked examples
100 cubic feet of storage
100 × 0.0283168 = 2.83 m³, or 2,832 liters. That is 100 ÷ 27 = 3.70 cubic yards. One cubic meter is 1 ÷ 0.0283168 = 35.31 ft³.
Refrigerator capacity: 10 cu ft
A 10 cu ft fridge is 10 × 0.0283168 = 0.283 m³, which European listings would describe as about 283 liters.
Shipping container: 33.2 m³
A 20 ft container with 33.2 m³ of space holds 33.2 ÷ 0.0283168 = 1,172 ft³. 2,400 ft³ of cargo needs 2,400 × 0.0283168 = 68 m³ — roughly one 40 ft container.
Frequently asked questions
How many cubic meters are in a cubic foot?+
One cubic foot equals exactly 0.028316846592 cubic meters, usually rounded to 0.0283 m³. That is about 28.3 liters.
How many cubic feet are in a cubic meter?+
One cubic meter is about 35.3147 cubic feet. Divide 1 by 0.028316846592 to get the exact figure.
What is CBM in shipping?+
CBM stands for cubic meter, the standard volume unit for freight. To convert a shipment measured in cubic feet to CBM, multiply by 0.0283168.
How do I convert CCF of gas to cubic meters?+
One CCF is 100 cubic feet, which equals 2.8317 cubic meters. Multiply the number of CCF on your bill by 2.8317 to get m³.
How many liters is a cubic foot?+
A cubic foot is about 28.317 liters, because 1 m³ is exactly 1,000 liters and 1 ft³ is 0.0283168 m³.