# Moving Box Planner

> How many moving boxes, how much tape, which truck and when to start packing. List your rooms and how much stuff you own. The planner estimates boxes by size, packing supplies, load volume, a suitable truck class, crew size and hours, optional cost, and a packing schedule counting back from moving day. All counts are transparent rules of thumb you can check.

Part of usefulweb.site (https://usefulweb.site/). Results are deterministic calculations from the inputs and the listed assumptions; the API returns exactly what the web page shows.

## Use it
- Human interface: https://movingboxplanner.usefulweb.site/ (interactive tool at https://movingboxplanner.usefulweb.site/tool)
- JSON API: POST https://movingboxplanner.usefulweb.site/api/v1/calculate with a JSON object of inputs (schema: https://movingboxplanner.usefulweb.site/api/v1/tool)
- OpenAPI: https://movingboxplanner.usefulweb.site/openapi.json
- MCP (Streamable HTTP): https://movingboxplanner.usefulweb.site/mcp - tool `moving_box_planner`

## Inputs
- rooms (table, required): Rooms to pack
- people (integer): People in household
- density (select): How much stuff?
- distanceKm (number): Driving distance
- floorsWithoutElevator (integer): Floors without elevator (old + new home)
- moveDate (date, required): Moving day
- moverHourlyRate (number): Mover rate per person-hour - Optional; cost is only calculated if given.
- truckHourlyRate (number): Truck rate per hour - Optional.
- currency (text): Currency

## Method
- Boxes per room = editorial base count for a medium room at average density × room size factor (small 0.7, medium 1, large 1.4) × stuff factor (minimalist 0.7, average 1, collector 1.4), rounded up per box type. One extra wardrobe box per person for hanging clothes.
- Box sizes: small 40×30×30 cm (0.036 m³, books/heavy), medium 50×40×40 cm (0.08 m³), large 60×45×45 cm (0.1215 m³, light/bulky), wardrobe 50×50×120 cm (0.3 m³).
- Furniture allowance per room (medium): bedroom 4, living 6, kitchen 2, bathroom 0.3, office 2.5, kids 3, garage 3, storage 1.5 m³, scaled by room size and stuff factor. Load volume = (boxes + furniture) × 1.15 for imperfect stacking.
- Truck: smallest vehicle class whose nominal volume ≥ load (panel van 12, Luton 20, 7.5 t 35, 12 t 50, 18 t 70 m³); larger loads need multiple trips of the 18 t class.
- Crew: 2 people up to 20 m³, 3 up to 40 m³, 4 above. Loading and unloading each at 2.5 m³ per person-hour, +10% per floor without elevator; driving at 60 km/h average one way.
- Supplies: 3 m of tape per box on 50 m rolls (+1 spare roll), packing paper and bubble wrap per box by room type (kitchen and living highest), 1 marker per 2 people (min 2).
- Packing pace: 10 boxes per day; rooms are packed in the order storage → garage → office → kids → living → bedroom → bathroom → kitchen, finishing the day before the move.

## Limits
- Rules of thumb, not a quote. Professional movers survey your home for a binding estimate.