RTS (Radio Teleswitch being turned off in March ---- help needed ) !

rebecca1

Hi there 
I am with Eon Next who have said that the RTS will no longer work at the end of March and I will have to have a Smart meter fitted! I am not keen on a Smart meter and don't want one fitted. Eon have said that if I don't have a Smart meter installed I can still send them the Day/Night meter readings but will be charged the same rate for both! Anyone know of any other option available to me? I am annoyed that they give customers such short notice! I called Dimplex who are the biggest supplier of Economy 7 but they said that they would work on a mechanical switch as well but this is normally fitted by the Utility provider.. There must be lots of people with Economy 7 where a Smart meter will not work! What options have they got? 

MattMattMattUK

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search?domain=all_content&query=RTS&scope=site&source=community

Gerry1

Do nothing, it's just scaremongering to force you to have a smart meter.  Just wait to be contacted.

If you're on plain E7 your RTS will almost certainly continue quite happily like a digital watch where the owner doesn't keep setting it by the pips.

In any case, it's a lie that the RTS signal is about to cease; it's good for at least another year. 

However, last November there were almost a million RTSs still in service, so it's quite possible that the signal switch off will keep being extended.  Indeed, Elexon states that December 2025 is the hard deadline for all RTS devices to be replaced with most if not all, RTS devices being replaced by Summer 2025.

https://www.elexon.co.uk/documents/change/issues/101-150/issue-108-issue-report/

(Section 4)

dunstonh

I am with Eon Next who have said that the RTS will no longer work at the end of March

That was the case just over a month ago but its been extended since for another year but they are running out of extensions.

 I am not keen on a Smart meter and don't want one fitted.

Why?  Is that based on facts of BS?  Most people saying they don't want a smart meter are relying on the BS reasons and not the facts.    Typically Daily express or Daily Mail reader types.

Eon have said that if I don't have a Smart meter installed I can still send them the Day/Night meter readings but will be charged the same rate for both!

That may be a business decision for them but other suppliers will allow you to continue but you will have to accept that the timing of changeover will begin to drift which could end up costing you more.   Or your meter may become life expired and change forced on you anyway.

 I am annoyed that they give customers such short notice! 

This hasn't been short notice.  Its been coming for years and up to now has been extended each time.

 There must be lots of people with Economy 7 where a Smart meter will not work! 

I have economy 7 and a smart meter and it works fine.  Although my previous conventional meters were timer based anyway and less reliable than the smart meter.

Why do  you think it won't work for you? 

inspectorperez

rebecca1 said:

Hi there 
I am with Eon Next who have said that the RTS will no longer work at the end of March and I will have to have a Smart meter fitted! I am not keen on a Smart meter and don't want one fitted. Eon have said that if I don't have a Smart meter installed I can still send them the Day/Night meter readings but will be charged the same rate for both! Anyone know of any other option available to me? I am annoyed that they give customers such short notice! I called Dimplex who are the biggest supplier of Economy 7 but they said that they would work on a mechanical switch as well but this is normally fitted by the Utility provider.. There must be lots of people with Economy 7 where a Smart meter will not work! What options have they got? 

In a similar position but I refuse to panic. It's not that I have an aversion to having a smart meter fitted, just that my supplier failed to turn up on 4 occasions last year for the necessary installation.

I do not intend to take any more proactive action by booking another appointment and will sit this one out until further notice.

When the BBC longwave transmitter valve finally gives up the ghost, I intend to review options then. Goes against the grain for someone who always likes to plan in advance, but sometimes you have to live dangerously

dunstonh

In a similar position but I refuse to panic. It's not that I have an aversion to having a smart meter fitted, just that my supplier failed to turn up on 4 occasions last year for the necessary installation.

At least you get paid for each time they fail to turn up.

rebecca1

dunstonh said:

I am with Eon Next who have said that the RTS will no longer work at the end of March

That was the case just over a month ago but its been extended since for another year but they are running out of extensions.

 I am not keen on a Smart meter and don't want one fitted.

Why?  Is that based on facts of BS?  Most people saying they don't want a smart meter are relying on the BS reasons and not the facts.    Typically Daily express or Daily Mail reader types.

Eon have said that if I don't have a Smart meter installed I can still send them the Day/Night meter readings but will be charged the same rate for both!

That may be a business decision for them but other suppliers will allow you to continue but you will have to accept that the timing of changeover will begin to drift which could end up costing you more.   Or your meter may become life expired and change forced on you anyway.

 I am annoyed that they give customers such short notice! 

This hasn't been short notice.  Its been coming for years and up to now has been extended each time.

 There must be lots of people with Economy 7 where a Smart meter will not work! 

I have economy 7 and a smart meter and it works fine.  Although my previous conventional meters were timer based anyway and less reliable than the smart meter.

Why do  you think it won't work for you? 

I have heard from friends that they have had trouble with their Smart meters. Also read in The Times as such... 
A friend of mine had an engineer booked in to fit a Smart meter last year and he never showed up and she had no financial compensation... 

Ectophile

dunstonh said:

That was the case just over a month ago but its been extended since for another year but they are running out of extensions.

The BBC are running out of valves to repair their radio transmitters, as they aren't being made any more.  But I'm told they have enough spares for the time being.

Scot_39

rebecca1 said:

Hi there 
I am with Eon Next who have said that the RTS will no longer work at the end of March and I will have to have a Smart meter fitted! I am not keen on a Smart meter and don't want one fitted. Eon have said that if I don't have a Smart meter installed I can still send them the Day/Night meter readings but will be charged the same rate for both! Anyone know of any other option available to me? I am annoyed that they give customers such short notice! I called Dimplex who are the biggest supplier of Economy 7 but they said that they would work on a mechanical switch as well but this is normally fitted by the Utility provider.. There must be lots of people with Economy 7 where a Smart meter will not work! What options have they got? 

[Historical personal experience.

EOn abandoned certain types of RTS for some customers many years ago - pre Smart meters widely available even.
They offered me and my neighbours two options - E10 on a dual rate digital meter (at rates more expensive than old legacy EMEB Heatwise tariff) or single rate digital meter.
If you didn't make the choice after a couple of letters over n months they said would fit a single rate meter.  It was in from letter 1 that had two options - but the strength of warning re single rate default got stronger. And iirc they did so to 1 of 13 in my close. Luckily able to swap back to E7 elsewhere almost immediately after.
Others ditched EOn mid process and went E7 with other suppliers - as my elderly next door neighbours - but then they found needed to spend £1000s on new heaters                           ]

The other issue is are you sure your RTS meter is plain vanilla E7  - a lot of RTS meters were - but others were not.


Your situation sounds therefore all too similar, albeit a little less disruptive - so as I understand it rts e7 to e7 smart or single rate.

So I personally would say DO NOT IGNORE the correspondence. As that could be bad advice. Single rate based on real past experience may not be an idle threat.

And I can think of good reasons - like potential meter clock time drift - for them to insist on it.

If you don't like smart meters allowing energy firms to access let alone bill you using 1/2 hourly meter data - you should initially start with suppliers only able to read daily resolution data - not half hourly (they need to ask your explicit permission for that) and under DAPF rules - you can even strictly ask them to read only at a monthly period.
Some suplliers will also install a smart meter in dumb mode - requiring manual readings as before.

The year extension others are talking about was yet to be confirmed by Ofgem last time I looked a couple of weeks ago - it's site still had end of Mar 24  - but 31 Mar 25 has iirc been posted on the ENA site -  is I suspect the new industry wide deadline.
But in some respect that extension should be viewed as date for effectively the last RTS critical meter to be replaced.  So not them all - and certainly not the first of those remaining that need to be.
Or to put it more simply - they aren't going to leave all (last figure I saw c750,000 in service) to next Mar - and replace them all at very last minute.

Gerry1

Scot_39 said:

rebecca1 said:

Hi there 
I am with Eon Next who have said that the RTS will no longer work at the end of March and I will have to have a Smart meter fitted! I am not keen on a Smart meter and don't want one fitted. Eon have said that if I don't have a Smart meter installed I can still send them the Day/Night meter readings but will be charged the same rate for both! Anyone know of any other option available to me? I am annoyed that they give customers such short notice! I called Dimplex who are the biggest supplier of Economy 7 but they said that they would work on a mechanical switch as well but this is normally fitted by the Utility provider.. There must be lots of people with Economy 7 where a Smart meter will not work! What options have they got? 

The year extension others are talking about was yet to be confirmed by Ofgem last time I looked a couple of weeks ago -

You need to look again !

"You should not lose your electricity supply or functionality before 31 March 2025. Your electricity supplier will contact you to arrange an upgrade to your meter and replace it with a smart meter. We expect them to manage this process before 31 March 2025, if you have any questions or concerns, you should contact your supplier."

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/radio-teleswitch-electricity-meters-consumer-guidance

Curiously, Ofgem then says

"You can choose not to upgrade to a smart meter.  However, you may not have the same functionality as you have now, and you may also be limited with the choice of tariffs."

No mention of end of life meters.

dunstonh

I have heard from friends that they have had trouble with their Smart meters

Across the country, the failure rates with smart meters are the same as conventional.    

Many people that moan about their smart meter are actually not having any issues with the smart meter but the IHD (which is not the smart meter).  Some suppliers have awful IHDs.    But the smart meter is fine.

A friend of mine had an engineer booked in to fit a Smart meter last year and he never showed up and she had no financial compensation... 

your friend should have got £30 for that.   But that isnt the smart meter's fault.

The reality is that SMETS1 was a bit of a mess.  Most of what you read is about SMETS1 or IHDs.     However, SMETS2 (the current generation) has no real issues.