"ktos" wrote in message
...
"Existential Angst" wrote in
:

"ktos" wrote in message
...
Jeff The Drunk wrote in :

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.

also, this method may not work because the company will wonder why
the winter readings are so low and high in the summer. They'll
probably want to come and check your meter.

This happened to me when I was submitting my own reads. They are
always way lower than what the company thought it should be.

Come to find out , the dummies had us as having 6 people in the
house, when
there are only 2 of us.

They track occupancy?? goodgawd, what city/state is this??

The company likes to spy on people. It's NY state. There is also a law
if
they don't get the yearly reading they charge you $25 per month until you
let them read the meter.

I'm in NYS (ConEd). I didn't know they did this.
Not that it matters, but no dealings that I've had with the company -- and
there have been MANY, right at their headquarters at Union Square
(manhattan) -- indicated their interest of any information of that sort.

I know they are concerned about kids/elderly in the case of turn off's, but
that was it, afaik.
--
EA