Economy 7 and ending of RTS (Radio Teleswitch Service)

QrizB

@PHMAL you've been posting about the RTS meter switch-off since January last year. Do you even have one? Surely if you did, you've arranged to have it replaced in the last 18 months?

PHMAL

Surely it must be still be in use during a phased switch off ??

PHMAL

Life has been complicated. Can't  say any more.

UncleK

I helped my Dad switch over his RTS to a smart meter. This of course anecdotal, but a few things got in the way:
1. Distrust of smart meters, not helped by foaming-at-the-mouth stories from the usual suspects in the press
2. Initially, rubbish service from EDF, who basically never followed up on things they said on the phone
3. And when I persuaded him to go over to Octopus, the folks handling the meter appointments, not seeming to understand the need for a "special" 5-port meter to handle the wiring set up. Otherwise, Octopus are okay.
I could help him, and I was helped by reading the stuff here.
Multiply what my Dad was up against, subtract from it a helpful well-informed child/friend, and multiply it by several hundred thousand and then mix in private companies who actually have not much to gain from this (I presume) and it isn't exactly a recipe for success, IMHO.
You may have other views, but as people are pointing out, this was forecast a long time ago!

matelodave

PHMAL said:

Life has been complicated. Can't  say any more.

PHMAL said:

Life has been complicated. Can't  say any more.

there's non so deaf as those who wont listen

mmmmikey

PHMAL said:

Life has been complicated. Can't  say any more.

Hi - unfortunately that's in part because you're making it that way. If you do have an RTS meter you could probably get it swapped out for less time and effort than you've put into writing to your MP and so on. There has been plenty of warning about this. Simply waiting for the transmitter to break before doing anything about it is not IMHO a sensible strategy.

Scot_39

mmmmikey said:

Qyburn said:

PHMAL said:

My MP tells me Ofgem have confirmed nobody will be cut off from having electricity. if their RTS meter hasn't been replaced. The signal will not just totally be shut off on 30 June, but there will be s 'phased' shut down up until Seprmber. 

Did he say what he means by "phased"? Surely the transmitter is either running or not.

I expect what is going to happen is that they are going to stop transmitting the part of the signal that relates to a particular area in phases. I can't think of a technical reason for doing this but it does have the advantage that if / when there are issues they won't all hit the customer services and meter installation teams at once so the process should be more controlled.

There is as you say the the possibility of them focussing the teams - but not only once problems maybe occured after old Jun 30th hard deadline but before and during 3 month window - either regionally if it's a physical area thing - or by meter type - if a rts tariff code type thing as others have suggested the technology could allow - on as yet incomplete upgrades with the finite number of meter fitters qualified to do the work.

As the above post - probably a far more efficient way of controlling costs in the first place - not leaving it to muliple suppliers and (until recently with the EOL guidance) personal choice.

My rts replacement had 2 wasted visits as too complex for initial fitters - poor training and poor job allocation - the third who new exactly what to do - suspect had to drive 45m-1hr mid day min to get to me - across his base city, motorway and my town.  He returned to do my neighbour next week the meter cabinets literally 1-2 metres apart as terraced. And at least 1 other that I saw in my small close of 14 (well 13, but the numbers jump 12 to 14) homes following month and I was only home part time.

If similar still happening even partially nationally - the accumulated cost and delays to roll out targets must be huge over the years.

matelodave

To do it properly the energy companies should have just come out and blitzed an area rather than letting people wait until the very end.

That way they would have managed the transition in an orderly fashion, having  equipment delivered to one area at a time rather than randomly running all over the place.

The whole smart meter roll out has been a total shambles allowing the energy companies to what they want when they want and, even worse,  letting awkward and intransigent people refuse to have one.

I am old enough to remember the transition from town gas to natural gas where a whole area was targeted - meters were changed where necessary, filters were fitted and cookers, boilers and gas appliance were all adapted and sorted out, usually in one visit.

Very little fuss rather than the total bu;;ers muddle that they've managed to achieve with the smart meter roll out. Have other countries with smart meters managed to get it as wrong as we have in the UK?

inspectorperez

If the valve build quality is anything like the old analogue meters which never blinked, one imagines the RTS system will be operational for many years to come. 

My faithfull old gas boiler is now 36 years old and even though it ceased in production many years ago, the parts are still available.

But I suppose when you are a business supporting a large national customer base, you need to smooth out the risk of chaos which could unfold if the RTS signal did fail without warning, especially in the winter months. It would be irresponsible not to do so.

So as much as I hate to kick old faithful technology into touch, the move to smart meters is a necessary evil for all who rely on RTS imho (even though my own has problems).

Ildhund

mmmmikey said:

Qyburn said:

Did he say what he means by "phased"? Surely the transmitter is either running or not.

I expect what is going to happen is that they are going to stop transmitting the part of the signal that relates to a particular area in phases ... 

As far as I can see, there is just one signal transmitted. Each packet has destination identifiers, so each recipient just ignores the bits not specifically intended for it. That makes it quite simple to cut off individual groups or indeed whole DNO areas as they're deemed covered to an acceptable level.