Most households and small businesses are well served by a 20ft General Purpose container (around 33.2 cubic metres), while larger storage or commercial needs usually call for a 40ft General Purpose or 40ft High Cube container (around 67 to 76 cubic metres), which offers extra headroom for tall or bulky items. The right size depends on how much you're storing, how often you need to access it, and how much space you have on site.
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A 20ft container is roughly 6 metres long and holds around 33 cubic metres, making it ideal for smaller storage jobs, tight sites, or anyone who wants something easy to manoeuvre and deliver. A 40ft container is roughly 12 metres long, doubling the storage space to around 67 cubic metres, and suits larger volumes of stock, equipment or household goods.
As a general rule:
● Choose a 20ft container if you're storing the contents of a small home, seasonal equipment, tools, or stock for a small business, or if space on site is limited.
● Choose a ●40ft container if you're storing the contents of a larger home, running a business with higher stock volumes, or need one container to do the job of two 20ft units.
If you're not sure, our team can talk through what you're storing and help you land on the right size, or you're welcome to come and see both sizes side by side at our yard in Molong.
Start by roughly listing out what you need to store and estimating its volume, then add a bit of buffer space so you're not packing the container to the rafters. A few practical ways to work it out:
1) Room-by-room estimate. As a rough guide, the contents of a 2 to 3 bedroom home usually fit in a 20ft container, while a 4 to 5 bedroom home often needs a 40ft container.
2) Pallet or item count. If you're storing palletised stock or equipment, work out how many pallets or items you have and check this against the container's internal dimensions.
3) Think about access, not just volume. If you'll need to get in and out of the container regularly, leave more clearance than you would for pure long-term storage.
4) Factor in future needs. If your storage needs are likely to grow, it's often worth sizing up now rather than needing a second container later.If you're still unsure, send us a rough list of what you're storing and we'll help you work out the best fit.
Empire Containers' core range includes 20ft GP, 40ft GP and 40ft HC containers, all available new or used, with the option to modify or paint them to suit your needs. (For a short time we also have 48 ft, see here)