Steps to prepare your home for the cold, winter weather in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. - As temperatures are expected to drop to the 20s and 30s in Central Florida, many are getting their homes ready.

At ACE Hardware, customers like Patrick Lang prepare for the chilly weather. "I would say I’m kind of happy to have a cold Christmas."

Patrick works for a garden center and is buying supplies to protect plants, but if you’re home and don’t have time to go to the store he said, "You can use newspaper. You can use just tarps. Plastic painters drop clothes."

"Take potted plants and bring them closer inside. Or to the outside structure of the wall of the house because that’s going to maintain a lot warmer temperatures, said Manager Mike Ragon on how to protect your pipes. "If you have an outside pipe that you were worried was going to freeze, keep that water flowing. A slow-moving drip is going to keep that freezing solid."

And if you have a pool. "Keep that pool on and have the system run, it’s going to be fine."

FOX 35 News asked him what the biggest sellers have been lately, and he said, "Fire pits are one of the fastest-moving objects that we have this week."

But surprisingly, it's not because of the drop in temperatures. "Ambiance and entertainment. Not really for a heat source."