Cubic Feet Converter
1 cubic foot equals 28.316846592 liters, 7.480519 US gallons, 0.037037 cubic yards, and 0.028316846592 cubic meters. Use this cubic feet converter when you need to move the same volume between common US and metric units without reworking the base math yourself. Enter a value, choose the starting unit, choose the target unit, and the tool converts through cubic feet so the answer stays consistent across storage, appliance, aquarium, construction, and landscaping use cases. Cubic feet show up everywhere in everyday planning. Freezers, refrigerators, moving boxes, compost bins, truck beds, and room layouts are often described in cubic feet. At the same time, product labels and specification sheets may switch to liters, cubic meters, cubic yards, or US gallons. That mismatch makes quick comparisons harder than they should be. This page helps you bridge those labels so you can compare capacities, order materials, or sense-check a listed volume before you buy. The tool is especially useful when you are translating between consumer product sizes and jobsite measurements. A chest freezer might be listed in cubic feet, a water tank in gallons, and a bulk soil order in cubic yards. Instead of memorizing separate formulas for each pair, you can convert any supported unit through one shared base and get a clean result fast.
Quick answer
The converter supports cubic feet, liters, US gallons, cubic yards, and cubic meters.
Result
28.316847 L
What this tells you
- •The converter supports cubic feet, liters, US gallons, cubic yards, and cubic meters.
- •Every conversion runs through cubic feet as the base unit, then divides by the factor for the destination unit.
- •1 cubic foot equals 28.316846592 liters, which is why appliance space in ft³ can be compared directly with metric capacity labels.
- •1 cubic yard equals 27 cubic feet, so even a small-looking change in cubic yards can represent a much larger change in actual volume.
- •1 cubic meter equals 35.3146667215 cubic feet, which makes cubic meters the larger unit for bulk storage and site materials.
- •US gallons are not the same as UK gallons, so this tool uses US liquid gallons only and labels them clearly.
How to Use
- 1Enter the volume you want to convert. Decimals are allowed, so values like 0.5, 12.75, or 240 work normally.
- 2Choose the unit you already have in the From field. Pick ft3 for appliance space, gal for liquid capacity, yd3 for bulk material orders, l for metric container labels, or m3 for larger storage volumes.
- 3Choose the unit you want in the To field. The result updates using the same volume, only expressed in the destination unit.
- 4Read the converted value below the form. Use the displayed figure for quick planning, comparisons, and rough quantity checks.
- 5If the conversion affects a purchase or delivery, keep the converted number as a check and confirm the final requirement against the product specification, container rating, or material supplier details.
How It Works
Formula
target volume = (input × source cubic feet factor) ÷ target cubic feet factorThe converter uses cubic feet as the shared base unit. First, it multiplies your input by the cubic-feet factor for the source unit to find the same volume in ft³. Second, it divides that cubic-foot value by the factor for the target unit. For example, to convert 240 liters to US gallons, the tool first changes liters to cubic feet with 240 × 0.03531466672148859 = 8.47552001316 ft³. It then divides by 0.13368055555555555 ft³ per US gallon and returns 63.401293 gallons after rounding. The same method works for every supported pair because each unit has one fixed relationship to cubic feet. The tool does not estimate settling, headspace, or packed density. It only converts geometric volume from one unit label to another.
Calculation note: values are processed in the order shown above, using the current input units.
Worked Examples
Convert a 16 cubic foot freezer to liters
Multiply 16 by 28.316846592 liters per cubic foot to get 453.069545472 liters. The displayed result rounds to 453.069545 L. This is a practical way to compare an appliance sold in ft³ with a spec sheet or storage container measured in liters.
Convert 2 cubic yards of mulch to cubic feet
Each cubic yard contains 27 cubic feet, so 2 yd³ becomes 54 ft³. This is the kind of quick check people use when a supplier quotes mulch by the yard but the project sketch or truck space is measured in cubic feet.
Convert 64 US gallons to cubic feet
One US gallon equals 0.13368055555555555 cubic feet. Multiply 64 by that factor and you get 8.55555555556 ft³, which displays as 8.555556 ft³. This helps when a tank, tote, or aquarium volume is listed in gallons but your available space is measured in cubic feet.
Convert 1.5 cubic meters to cubic feet
A cubic meter equals 35.31466672148859 cubic feet. Multiply that factor by 1.5 and you get 52.9720000822 ft³, which displays as 52.972 ft³. This is a useful conversion for comparing metric storage volume with US appliance, room, or trailer measurements.
Convert 240 liters to US gallons
First convert 240 liters to cubic feet by multiplying by 0.03531466672148859, which gives 8.47552001316 ft³. Then divide by 0.13368055555555555 ft³ per US gallon to get 63.401292566 gallons. The displayed answer rounds to 63.401293 gal, which is useful when metric container sizes need a gallon comparison.
Common cubic feet conversions
Use these quick checks for storage bins, appliance capacity, tanks, and bulk material planning. Values are rounded for display.
| Cubic feet | Liters | US gallons | Cubic meters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ft³ | 28.316847 L | 7.480519 gal | 0.028317 m³ |
| 5 ft³ | 141.584233 L | 37.402597 gal | 0.141584 m³ |
| 10 ft³ | 283.168466 L | 74.805195 gal | 0.283168 m³ |
| 27 ft³ | 764.554858 L | 201.973997 gal | 0.764555 m³ |
| 35.314667 ft³ | 1000 L | 264.172052 gal | 1 m³ |
The gallon values are US liquid gallons. For bulk materials, convert volume first, then account for settling, waste, or supplier minimums separately.
When cubic feet conversions matter most
Cubic feet is one of the most common volume labels in US home and jobsite planning. It appears on refrigerators, freezers, moving boxes, storage units, truck beds, and ventilation specs. The trouble starts when the next document in the chain uses liters, gallons, cubic yards, or cubic meters instead. A conversion tool saves time because it lets you compare those labels directly before you make a decision.
For household buying, the question is usually capacity. You might want to know whether a 16 ft³ freezer is meaningfully larger than a 400 liter unit, or whether a rain barrel advertised in gallons matches the storage space you expect from a container measured in cubic feet. In those cases, the math is simple, but the unit mismatch makes it easy to misread scale. Converting once gives you a more intuitive picture of the real size.
For landscaping and light construction, the question is often ordering. Soil, mulch, sand, and concrete are frequently priced by cubic yard or cubic meter, while the space to fill may be described in feet. Converting the finished volume into the supplier's unit helps you order the correct amount, then add your own allowance for compaction, spillage, or overage. The conversion itself is exact. The field condition is the part that still needs judgment.
A good habit is to use the conversion as a reasonableness check, not just a final number. If a compact bin suddenly seems to hold hundreds of gallons, or a small bed seems to require several cubic yards, pause and look at the source unit again. Many large conversion errors come from choosing the wrong unit, confusing cubic feet with square feet, or mixing US gallons with another gallon standard. This tool works best when it helps you catch that mistake before the number reaches a cart, quote, or delivery order.
Common mistakes
- Mixing cubic feet with square feet. Cubic feet measure volume, while square feet measure surface area, so they are not interchangeable.
- Using UK gallons or assuming all gallon labels match. This converter uses US liquid gallons only, which changes the answer noticeably on larger volumes.
- Rounding too early in a multi-step estimate. Convert the raw volume first, then round once at the end if you need a cleaner planning number.
- Treating loose-fill materials like soil, gravel, or mulch as fixed packed volume. Real delivered material can settle, fluff up, or leave voids.
- Forgetting that a converted volume does not tell you weight. If you need pounds, tons, or bag counts, you also need the material density or product coverage data.
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