True, meter readings can definitely be in error, but keep in mind that these errors are not going to cost you any money in the long run. In the case of your water bill, for example, your bill for water usage the next month would have been zero because the meter reading still probably would not have come up to the figure they erroneously recorded on the previous month's bill. The same would be true of gas and electric meters. (There may still be a monthly service fee you pay, so the bill wouldn't actually be zero, but you'd pay that anyhow. The bill for your actual usage will be zero.) However, some people may object to "lending" the utility company money in the form of paying a big bill this month, even though that money is going to be paid back to them over the next few months in the forms of very low or non-existent bills. These people can simply do as you did and read the meter themselves if they get an overly high bill, and the utility company will make the appropriate adjustment.

Been there, done that...lint is such a HUGE annoyance to my life. We're in a 2nd floor condo where the dryer vent ducting goes to the roof through the attic over 20 feet and several elbows. My husband bought the condo years before we met, and the ducting was clogged after several years. At the time, he decided to disconnect the vent from the duct. The resulting moisture did some damage to the cabinetry (swelling of the particle board, even under layers of oil-based paint). Soon after we married, he decided we needed to fix the problem correctly. He went up into the attic and disassembled the ducting, brought it outside, and blew it out with his air compressor. I pushed some cleaning tool through it as well. We can't be doing this regularly! I mean preferably, never again! So, I had him put a filter -- a gallon paint strainer -- over the dryer vent where it connects to the machine. This clogs every month or so, we pull the machine out, disconnect the vent, clean the strainer, and put it back. This is still an annoying chore, but not the nightmare of dealing with the whole duct run. My husband had a cool idea, that what we need to do is sew a new, longer strainer that tapers to a skinny point, so that even when it clogs at the point, there can still be air flowing past the clogged strainer, and we should be able to go longer between cleanings. We got a new dryer last summer, and pulled the ducting out of the attic to clean it -- but it was already clean as a whistle. So, our secondary filter system has kept the duct run clean for 9 years. I found you can buy secondary lint traps with a door that opens to clean them out, but we don't have room to install the box in our laundry room, and I don't think it would work any better or be easier to clean than our homemade filter. When I redo the floor, I plan to put magic slider thingies under the dryer feet to make it easier to move in and out, plus I won't want to gouge my new floor. I have researched other solutions. People claim that solid metal vent will maintain better airflow than pleated, but I think it will still clog because we need 2 90-degree elbows to get it connected to the duct in the wall. And if it clogs, how do we pull out the machine with a non-stretching vent? If we could move the duct in the wall to match the dryer vent outlet, that would eliminate 2 elbows and would probably help... I also found you can install a secondary fan in the ducting near the exit, increasing the airspeed in long ducts so the lint won't clog. They cost $150-200, but if I never had to clean out the duct run or pull out the dryer to clean my makeshift secondary lint trap ever again, it would be well worth it. I also think that our ducting is leaky somewhere, because rooms on the other side of the wall (our master bath) get crusted with lint all the time. Finding and sealing those leaks would probably improve airspeed some, plus save me tons of work cleaning the lint all the time. I think the additional fan is the way to go. In 2 other areas where we replaced an ineffective low-cfm cheap fan with a high-cfm good one, like the hood over our cooktop, it made an amazing difference, night and day. Here is a link that might be useful: example of dryer duct fan

Not from the area, but it sounds reasonable. Concerning the path: there probably isn't any other way than to run it on the outside, unless, you want to make and patch holes inside. I would suggest the 220v (which is actualy 240v). The amperage load on each wire is reduced in half. It will draw the same load as the 110v (which is actually 120v) but the 120v amperage is all on one wire and one phase of your electrical system. The 240v splits the load equally among the two phases you have in your home. 15 amps at 120v is the same as 7.5 amps 240v. The differences in the wiring is the change from a one pole circuit breaker to a two pole circuit breaker and the wiring will draw half the amperage so it can be smaller. If the difference in cost, $150, is for the change from 120v to 240v, I would ask for an explanation as to why. Granted, the 2 pole breakers costs 3 times as much as a one pole breaker. But that's it. Wiring should be a little less unless both required in the 15 amp wire range, then they would be the same. I would not pay that much for change in voltage without asking for an explantion. If the difference is somewhat due to the cost of the heater appliance itself, reduce the additional appliance cost from the $150 and see what the charge is for the 120V to 240V change. Hopefully you have a good electrician and he made sure your electrical equipment can handle the increased load of the heater. Heating appliances draw more amperage than any other load in your home.

"One of the worst things that you could do in a house is install leaky ductwork in a vented attic." - Joe Lstiburek Vented crawlspaces can be even worse with humidity and soil gas issues. Worst case: In the OP's case which is "unfortunately typical" you get this: With that improvement, according to Lstiburek, you can still expect 30% higher heating and cooling costs compared to best example: Notice insulation at attic floor, not roofline. Taken from Joe's BSC resource: Are you doing something stupid? Many designs call for insulation at roofline, just make sure it meets minimum code prescriptions. The biggest problem with roofline sprayfoam is the allowance of ridiculously lower than code R-value minimums. The home as a system is big and complex. It's easy to break out any one component and argue that it's not a big deal to compromise on efficiency. The more one applies that philosophy, the more performance will suffer. It's not just energy use, indoor air quality and uncontrolled moisture movement are also influenced by these decisions. Not accusing anyone but HVAC contractors are notorious for selling oversize systems that increase profits with bigger equipment markups. I can also imagine contractors used to installing attic ductwork might frown on the better practice of conditioned space ductwork as it may create more headaches coordinating with construction teams not used to doing it. Slabs, increased window area and typical construction are not good excuses to continue poor building practices. I'm all for balance but significant ductwork in vented attics or crawlspaces is tough to justify for new construction.