Radio teleswitch meter, E7 and night storage heaters

CSI_Yorkshire

Hoddington123 said:

Ok thanks for all your help . I might see if Eon have some similar team. Still surprised that Eon have not contacted me about my RTS meter but guess still 8 months before it ends. 

It was supposed to end a few years ago and has been postponed several times.

Hoddington123

Gerry1 said:

It's not your problem, you don't need to take any action.  If your preferred tariff requires a smart meter you're still likely to get it as long as you've agreed to let them fit one.  The exception would be a clever Time of Use tariff, but plain old E7 will be fine.

But a plain old E7 would not work for me as it would not be compatible with my night storage heaters. So I am not going to agree to let them fit something I know won’t work. 

Kid_Icarus

Eon will most likely fit an EDMI 5 terminal smart meter (which is what I have) - this connects to the separate consumer unit / fuseboard you have for your storage heaters and it works absolutely fine.

I would get a move on though because of as of May 23 there are still 990,000 RTS meters in operation across the country and it is going to be a challenge to get all of these replaced by 31st March 24 when the RTS system is (currently) due to be shutdown.

CSI_Yorkshire

Hoddington123 said:

Gerry1 said:

It's not your problem, you don't need to take any action.  If your preferred tariff requires a smart meter you're still likely to get it as long as you've agreed to let them fit one.  The exception would be a clever Time of Use tariff, but plain old E7 will be fine.

But a plain old E7 would not work for me as it would not be compatible with my night storage heaters. So I am not going to agree to let them fit something I know won’t work. 

"Plain old E7" is what most people with night storage heaters have.

You're getting confused between the type of meter and the type of tariff.

Scot_39

inspectorperez said:

I have this issue, but my supplier is EDF.

After much head scratching and excellent support from the experts on this website, I was eventually able to bypass the normal customer support lot who really didn't have much of a clue, and ended up with EDF advanced metering team which seems to go by the name of "Collections and Extra Support". This lot knew exactly what they were talking about and were very helpful.

Eon may well have the equivalent.

EOn used to have iirc a "complex metering team".

Normal customer support only know what they are trained for.  Few understand anything g about wiring or meter ALCS for separate circuits.

Those who tried gave completely wrong advise.

It was great to talk at a wiring level with the complex team guys.

Transferred to EOnNext ?  The direct number I had no longer works.

EOn had a meter simplification exercise years ago - all my neighbours were by choice or default removed from old rts emeb heatwise years ago.

I've been digital e10 then smets1 e10 for years as a result.

I know or at least was told by meter fitter they don't offer e10 to new customers years ago, what metering are they proposing for you ?

RedFraggle

Scot_39 said:

inspectorperez said:

I have this issue, but my supplier is EDF.

After much head scratching and excellent support from the experts on this website, I was eventually able to bypass the normal customer support lot who really didn't have much of a clue, and ended up with EDF advanced metering team which seems to go by the name of "Collections and Extra Support". This lot knew exactly what they were talking about and were very helpful.

Eon may well have the equivalent.

EOn used to have iirc a "complex metering team".

Normal customer support only know what they are trained for.  Few understand anything g about wiring or meter ALCS for separate circuits.

Those who tried gave completely wrong advise.

It was great to talk at a wiring level with the complex team guys.

Transferred to EOnNext ?  The direct number I had no longer works.

EOn had a meter simplification exercise years ago - all my neighbours were by choice or default removed from old rts emeb heatwise years ago.

I've been digital e10 then smets1 e10 for years as a result.

I know or at least was told by meter fitter they don't offer e10 to new customers years ago, what metering are they proposing for you ?

Eon no longer have a complex meter team or if they do they won't use them even if you ask multiple times. They overcharged me £430 in 3 months that after much complaining they eventually refunded. I switched to Octopus 

Scot_39

OK- so the OP may still struggle if EOn only offer an E7 option and not say an E10 option.

Depending on how his RTS system switches and his heaters.

Oops - just noticed the OP only has night time off peak currently with rts - but sone legacy rts allowed longer windows.

My RTS heatwise dual meter was replaced by single digital 5 port meter preset for E10.  It switched at roughly the same times as rts  as my RTS did in winter - 5 hrs night, 3 aft and 2 evening - but stays GMT in summer so jumps an hour.

It was replaced less than 2 years later bysmets1 secure liberty 100 4 port and external contactor. But not quite as neatly as above photo.

The fitter annoyed as the liberty 110 five port would have been easier to fit - but EOn seemed to have standardardised on 100 4 port model at the time.

E10 suits my old NSH - E7 probably would not - so despite cheaper night rates - around 5p/kWh - my overall costs would likely rise.  They did for my retired neighbours until swapped theirs out for HHR NSH.

Such E10 timings during the day actually permanently  encourage avoiding heavy use at peak - where Grid was paying people to load shift last year away from say 5-6pm.

But variable time of use, not fixed seems to be the direction of travel by many, and Dimplex for one have been working on it for RF series etc. So guess others Elnur etc will be too.

So reading one MSEr posts on his more DIY smart integration trials with interest for future.

Scot_39

QrizB said:

Just picking up on this point:

Hoddington123 said:

I understand I will need a 5 terminal E7 smart meter?

No, you won't need a five terminal smart meter (although that would be the tidiest solution). You could instead have a four terminal smart meter plus an external contactor.

Edited 31/07 to add the following photo of a tidy meter board that features a 4-terminal smart meter connected to an external E7 contactor:

That's the same in my case definitely smets1 meter and contactor EOn used to replace my old digital 5 port E10 meter.

The original replacement for my old heatwise and single rate meters.

And I can confirm it is capable of multiple off peak periods.

QrizB

For those of you with an interest in RTS meters, they get a mention in the recent Government response to the latest smart meter rollout consultation.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/smart-meter-targets-framework-minimum-installation-requirements-for-year-3-2024-and-year-4-2025

Replacement of Radio Tele Switch meters

The Radio Teleswitch (RTS) is a legacy industry-run service which supports versions of multi-rate, or other complex meter types with certain functions such as switching between peak and off-peak rates or turning on heating or hot water. Meters are switched via a signal transmitted from radio masts. This technology is due to cease operations in March 2024, unless extended further.

We are disappointed at the lack of progress in ensuring that these customers’ meters are exchanged for smart variants, especially given that this issue has been ongoing for some time within the industry. Whilst some issues remain to be solved for the most complex scenarios, we are aware that smart metering equipment is available for the majority of RTS meters. As such, we would expect that suppliers are actively planning to ensure that these customers do not experience any detriment associated with the expiration of this service, and that they will be able to experience the benefits of the smart meter rollout by having these meters expediently replaced.

Suppliers are obligated to ensure all customers have appropriate metering arrangements in place and should be taking actions now to proactively identify which of their customers are still using traditional RTS meters and to offer them a smart meter, clearly explaining the benefits of smart metering and the potential consequences if they do not have their meter replaced. We expect suppliers to manage this process well in advance of March 2024 and to ensure that no customers endure loss of supply or any loss of functionality as a result. The Authority will be closely monitoring the progress of the replacement of RTS meters and will be asking suppliers about their specific plans to address the issue.

There's a lot of other interesting details in the document if you can face wading through 13 pages of bureaucratese.

Spoonie_Turtle

March 2024 is 8 months away.  That's not very long to install almost 1 million smart meters!