Cheated by the Heat

BALTIMORE, MD – The weekly trip to your local gas station may be costing you more than you think. In fact, so-called “hot gas” is costing consumers like you and I billions of dollars every year. Is this just an oversight, or a scheme devised by gas stations to milk consumers of more money?

Hot gas: It’s something that the average citizen has never heard of. In fact, I’m not going to lie to you…I just recently learned about hot gas myself.

So what exactly is it?

Essentially, hot gas is gasoline sold to consumers at a temperature greater than the national standard of 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Who cares?

You should.

Like most other liquids, gasoline expands and contracts depending on the temperature. At 60 degrees a gallon of gasoline measures 231 cubic inches and contains a certain amount of energy.

But if a gallon of gasoline is heated to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it expands to 235 cubic inches.

What this means is that if gas stations sell you a gallon of fuel at 90 degrees, you pay the posted price for 235 cubic inches but only get the energy contained in 231 cubic inches of gasoline.

Energy and Capital