Some of it, yes. A clean barbecue with its gas bottle disconnected, a corded electric mower and hand tools can go in your unit. Gas bottles, petrol, oil and fuel cans can't: our terms bar "combustible or flammable substances including but not limited to gas, paint, petrol, oil, cleaning solvents or compressed gases", and charcoal and firelighters are combustible, so they fall under clause 18(c) too. So a petrol mower or strimmer with fuel or oil in it can't be stored, but it can go in once it's been run completely dry. Cordless tools follow our battery rules. Sections below cover gardeners and trades, clearing a relative's garage, and kit already in your unit.
Item by item
| Item | Can it go in the unit? |
|---|---|
| Hand tools, shears, rakes, a push mower with no engine | Yes |
| Corded electric mower or hedge trimmer | Yes: no fuel, no battery |
| Petrol mower, strimmer, leaf blower or chainsaw with fuel or oil in it | No (clause 18(c) names petrol and oil) |
| The same machine, run completely dry (fuel tank emptied, carburettor run dry, engine oil drained) with no smell of fuel | Yes |
| Petrol generator | Yes, on the same terms: run completely dry |
| Fuel cans, two-stroke oil, engine oil, chain oil | No |
| Gas bottles (propane or butane) and camping gas cartridges, full, part-used or "empty" | No |
| Gas barbecue, pizza oven or patio heater, bottle removed, cleaned | Yes |
| Charcoal barbecue or fire pit, ash and grease cleaned out | Yes |
| Charcoal, firelighters, lighter fluid | No |
| Paint, creosote, wood preservative, weedkiller and garden chemicals | No (clauses 18(c) and 18(e)) |
| Cordless tools and their batteries | Yes, within the battery limits below |
The terms don't list barbecues or mowers by name. What they bar is the fuel and anything that gives off fumes or odours, which is why the table turns on what's inside the machine. Our glossary entry on flammable liquids explains how to spot one.
Petrol mowers and tools
A petrol mower, strimmer, leaf blower or chainsaw with petrol in the tank is storing petrol, which clause 18(c) names. It also names oil, so sump oil counts too, as does two-stroke mix or chain oil.
A petrol mower or strimmer can go in once it's been run completely dry: the fuel tank emptied, the carburettor run until the engine stops, and the engine oil drained. Our guide puts it simply: "A small residue of petrol is still petrol." If it still smells of fuel, leave it out (clause 18(f) bars items that give off fumes or odours), and keep the fuel itself somewhere else. The same applies to a leaf blower, chainsaw or petrol generator.
Fuel cans can't be stored, even empty: an "empty" can still holds petrol vapour, and our guides list "fuel cans even when empty" among the things that stay out.
The fuel itself has to live somewhere else. The Health and Safety Executive says you can store up to 30 litres of petrol at home without telling your local Petroleum Enforcement Authority, in plastic containers of up to 10 litres or metal containers of up to 20 litres. One of its conditions is that the "petrol is not stored in your living accommodation", so if you're moving to a flat with no shed or garage, there may be nowhere to keep it. Using it up before the move, or running the machine dry as our guides suggest, avoids the problem. For fuel or oil you no longer need, check your local council's website for how it takes them.
Cordless mowers, strimmers and other battery tools
The line to check is the watt-hour (Wh) rating: a lithium-ion battery over 160Wh can only be stored if it's built in and can't be removed. Most cordless garden tools have removable batteries, so each one needs to be 160Wh or less.
Use the Wh figure printed on the pack where there is one. If only volts (V) and amp-hours (Ah) are printed, multiply them. An 18V 5.0Ah battery is 90Wh, so it can be stored. A 36V 5.0Ah battery is 180Wh, so it can't: keep it at home and store the tool without it. The limit applies to each battery: a 36V tool that takes two 18V packs uses two 90Wh batteries, which can both be stored. A 40V 4.0Ah battery is exactly 160Wh, and the limit bars batteries "exceeding" 160Wh, so it can be stored.
Portable power stations and power banks can't be stored at all (clause 20(b)). Anything with a built-in battery, such as a robot mower, must be free of visible damage and stored unstacked with air around it (clause 20.1). The terms also say "We recommend all batteries are stored with the lowest practical charge" (clause 20.1). The terms also limit you to ten "laptops, tablet computers, children's toys or other similar items containing built-in batteries" per unit. If you're storing several battery items, ask us whether they count.
Barbecues, gas bottles and patio heaters
The barbecue can go in. The gas can't. Clause 18(c) names gas and compressed gases, with no exception for a bottle that has run out. Disconnect it and take it home, or back to the supplier or retailer you got it from (Calor, for example, takes unwanted bottles back through its retailers and Calor Centres; call before you travel), or check your council's website to see whether its recycling centre takes them. Disposable camping cartridges can't go back to a bottle supplier; check your council's website for how it takes them. If you keep a bottle: Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service advises storing gas cylinders upright, outside the home, away from drains, heat and sources of ignition. A patio heater works the same way: the heater in, the bottle out.
For a charcoal barbecue or fire pit, empty the ash and scrape off the grease and food residue before it goes in. Our terms bar items that give off odours (clause 18(f)) and food that isn't packed to keep vermin out (clause 18(a)), and a greasy grill can do both. Charcoal and firelighters are combustible, so they fall under clause 18(c), as does lighter fluid: leave them out of the unit.
For gardeners, landscapers and trades
The same rules apply to a business unit. If your kit is mostly petrol, run each machine completely dry, as above, before it comes to the unit. The Health and Safety Executive's 30-litre figure is for homes and other non-workplace premises; it publishes separate guidance for petrol stored at work.
Clearing a parent's or relative's garage
A garage emptied for a sale, a move into care or after a death can hold a mower, a half-used petrol can, oil, a gas bottle, old paint, creosote or weedkiller. Paint is named in clause 18(c), and clause 18(e) bars "chemicals, radioactive materials, biological agents, toxic waste, asbestos or other potentially hazardous substances", so those stay out too. Sort them out before anything is boxed, because a sealed box doesn't change what's in it. Check your local council's website for how it takes fuel, oil, gas bottles, paint and garden chemicals. For the full list, see what goods are prohibited and can I store paint?.
If it's already in your unit
If you've stored a mower with fuel in it, a fuel can or a gas bottle, take it out on your next visit. Clause 27 lets us require you to remove goods that we consider a safety risk, and under clause 32 you're responsible for claims, costs and liabilities, including other people's, that result from a breach or from your use of the unit. Clause 22(c) also bars doing anything in the unit that could invalidate or increase premiums under any insurance policy.
Storing your garden kit with us
Our guides to where the garage stuff goes and storing garden furniture over winter cover the rest. When you know what's coming, get a price online or call 0800 2545585.
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