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Empty Flower Pots
You might think it safe to put away your flower pots for the winter with the soil still inside them. It’s a much better idea to empty them out first, though. If the soil isn’t dried out the moisture inside of it could expand as it freezes and ultimately crack your pots. Especially consider emptying your flower pots if you plan to leave them outside and uncovered all winter.
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Winterize Your Gas Grill
If you’re not a winter griller, pack away your grill now, before it’s covered with a foot of snow. In addition to giving your grill a thorough cleaning to remove grease and food scraps, take these steps to help prevent any unpleasant surprises when you fire up your grill again next spring.
Shut off the gas at the LP tank, unfasten the burner, slip the gas tubes off the gas lines and lift out the unit. Coat the burners and other metal parts with cooking oil to repel moisture that can build up over the winter and to prevent rust. Then wrap the burner unit in a plastic bag to keep spiders and insects from nesting in the gas tubes during the winter. This is a common problem that can make for balky starts, uneven flames or even a one-alarm fire the next time you light your grill.
If you store your grill outside during the winter, just keep the propane tank connected (but shut off) and put a protective cover over the entire grill when you’re done cleaning it. If you’re storing the grill indoors, don’t bring the tank inside, even into the garage or a storage shed.
A small gas leak can cause a huge explosion if you store tank in an enclosed space. Instead, disconnect the tank and store it outside in an upright position away from dryer and furnace vents and children’s play areas. Tape a plastic bag over the grill’s gas line opening to prevent insects from nesting there.
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Protect Batteries From Seasonal Storage Damage
You’ve emptied the gas, sealed the exhaust and prepared the engine for seasonal storage. But before you throw the tarp over your boat or roadster for the long winter sleep, think about how to care for the battery. Batteries lose their charge when they sit idle. And when that happens, you could wind up with a worthless battery in the spring.
Batteries should be charged every six weeks to keep them in optimal condition. But leaving a standard battery charger connected for the whole season isn’t a good idea — that will overcharge the battery and shorten its life. Instead, invest in a battery maintainer. You leave a battery maintainers engaged for the entire offseason by design. They monitor battery voltage and automatically adjust the charge to avoid under- and over-charging.
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