On Apr 12, 10:27*pm, ktos wrote:
Jeff The Drunk wrote :





On Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:40:03 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

I was at a party last night and a neighbor who works for a commercial
HVAC company explained his method of ripping off the gas company.

He says that gas is a commodity and therefore is typically cheaper in
the summer than in the winter. In the summer he "over-reads" his meter
by 35 - 40 therms on average, paying for the extra therms at the
cheaper price.

In the winter, he "under-reads" his meter by the same amount, paying
for fewer of the expensive therms.

Since he is sending in his card every month, and he is staying within
"average use" for a homeowner, they only come to read his meter once a
year and it's always near the end of winter when his over-reads and
under-reads have just about cancelled out.

As they ask on Mythbusters - Busted, Confirmed or Plausible?

I didn't know a meter could be read only once a year. *Around here
they alternate between estimate and read each month. *And here we get
to lock in a 12 month price and choose the lowest between several
different suppliers. *My largest monthly bill is Feb, this year was
around $150.00.

If the company doesn't have access to the meter for the alternate reads,
they must come at least once per year.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

They dont " Must Do " anything.