Can a gas fire pit stay outside all winter?
In Waynesville, sitting near 2,650 feet in Haywood County, your gas fire pit can absolutely winter outdoors — the cold isn't the threat even though you run 10 to 15 degrees colder than Asheville. Water freezing inside the burner is. Your one real difference here is a longer idle season, so the cover goes on earlier and comes off later than in the lower towns.
A longer off-season to cover for
Waynesville's heating season runs about three weeks longer than Asheville's, and the pit-idle stretch runs longer still. That's more weeks of rain, snow, and thaw working on any water sitting in the metal. So the winterizing window here isn't a quick fall-to-spring affair — plan on the pit being covered and shut down from the first cold snaps through a late Haywood spring.
Gas or propane — know which you've got
Waynesville is split: some homes toward downtown reach a gas main, but plenty of Hazelwood and outlying properties run propane. It matters for winter. A natural-gas pit just needs its valve closed; a propane pit means disconnecting the tank, storing it upright outside away from the house, and keeping the regulator out of standing ice. Either way, the gas connection itself is licensed work we permit with Haywood County.
Keep the water moving
The routine is the same once fuel's handled: a fitted breathable cover, a burner pan that drains rather than holds soaked media, and a dry-day look midwinter. Spec'd with a stainless burner, a built-in pit shrugs all this off for years. We're 35 minutes west and glad to check yours before the first hard freeze — (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Waynesville
We install and service fireplaces throughout Waynesville and the rest of Haywood County — just 35 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.