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

EssexHebridean

Hi Rebecca. Might the sorts of “problems” you’ve heard about include things like the meter not staying smart when they have changed suppliers, for example? That’s something that worries a lot of folk - but in fact that hasn’t been an issue since the early days of SMETS1 meters. Now what are fitted are the newer SMETS2 meters, and those don’t have the same issues with maintaining their smart function when you go through a switch. People often also say that their “smart meter” isn’t working when they are actually meaning the In House Display - the little digital display that comes with a smart meter. Whilst that might in itself be annoying, it doesn’t mean that the meter won’t still do what it’s meant to!

If you’ve got other concerns, then please do let us know and it may well be that those can be mythbusted too - honestly, the vast majority of folk who are wary of smart meters really are in that position because they are believing either outdated, or simply inaccurate information. There has been such a lot of fearmongering around them. 

Scot_39

Gerry1 said:

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.

As I said hadnt looked for literally a few weeks - the 2024 date was still there when others posted the ENA update to 2025.

But I do worry - from experience - that general industry wide deadlines doesn't change what the OPs specific supplier is actually saying to them.

Basically - swap or face being billed at single rate.

Phones4Chris

dunstonh said:

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.

Exactly that.

rebecca1 said:

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... 

I'm afraid you may be reading (even misreading?) too much rubbish in articles often written by people with little technical understanding and often no qualifications whatsoever!
Your friend should have pursued her supplier for the statutory £30 compensation, or gone to the Ombudsman after 8 weeks if they didn't respond.

I have Economy 7 and a Smart Meter and it works fine, no problem with the meter whatsoever.

I do have a problem with EDF's BILLING system however, which many others can also confirm. I'm supposed to get monthly bills paid monthly by Whole Amount DD. The bill frequency is random!!
The most recent nonsense is they've just sent a "dummy bill" saying I need to give them some meter readings as the smart meter hasn't sent any!
The Smart meter page says everything is fine, the meter is sending readings (which it is) and when you go to the Energy Hub you can see the data is there!
I can also easily get the data from 3rd party Apps such as "Bright", or "n3rgy" on a webpage. The meter is fine, the comms are fine, even the IHD works fine within it's limited functionality!

@rebecca1 What makes you think a smart meter wouldn't work for you?
What region are you in? Is it an area that has some comms problems? Who is your supplier?

rebecca1

Well the plot thickens from EON NEXT  about my meters, they sent this message this afternoon about my Economy 7 heaters in part of the house... 

I have reached out to a member of the smart team and was awaiting a response. Due to there being 2 electric meters at the property, you will not be eligible for a smart meter. In terms of your current RTS meter, we do not do credit to credit meter switches.

The only solution is to get simplified electric meters and installing a smart meter thereafter.  

rebecca1

Each time I talk with them they change their tune.. I have now asked 6 times that someone refers my emails to a Senior Manager, so far (after a week) a Manager has not responded... 

Scot_39

Sadly there is no one standard configuration for RTS or even old analogue / digital E7 metering - some are twin meter - some are single meter.

Any basic pseudo E7 set-up (dual tariff rate, with fixed time of use switching and dual circuit wiring - seperate restricted time for HW and NSH etc) should however be easily upgradable by one smart meter - which begs the question are you on a more complex set-up - or just being confused by a confused customer services operative.

[Some RTS modules only do the switching - for restricted supply and the meter digit set used on a twin rate meter - others do the off peak supply feed and actual metering for off-peak readings.  So in the later cases off peak rate then only applies to HW and heating - in others - more typical of a modern single E7 smart meter - the off peak rate applies to the whole house - during the 7 hours.

Some E7 meters don't even have 2 seperate powered cricuits - heavy consumption off peak devices controlled by external timer / contactors or per device timers to only operate during off peak windows.]

Sadly your experience of normal customer services - matches mine at the old EOn - that many really didn't have much of a clue about older metering standards like RTS and more to the point home wiring implications.  In my case an old twin meter EMEB heatwise RTS set-up with 3 - not e7 or in my case E10's standard 2 - seperated home wiring circuits. The only sensible answers I got in my case re what was going to happen to that third circuit - was from their complex metering team (but not sure it exists per se at the new EOn Next) - I had a direct number - but it stopped working years ago - even before EOn to EOnNext split - but some of the staff might be dotted around.

A photo of your meters / cabinet wiring (serial numbers redacted if visible) might clarify how your system may be operating currently and how easy to replicate.

PS Are they still telling you you will be billed on both registers with single rate if don't swap out RTS metering ?

dunstonh

Some E7 meters don't even have 2 seperate powered cricuits - heavy consumption off peak devices controlled by external timer / contactors or per device timers to only operate during off peak windows.]

That is how our E7 is done and how most modern E7 installs were done.

rebecca1

Scot_39 said:

Sadly there is no one standard configuration for RTS or even old analogue / digital E7 metering - some are twin meter - some are single meter.

Any basic pseudo E7 set-up (dual tariff rate, with fixed time of use switching and dual circuit wiring - seperate restricted time for HW and NSH etc) should however be easily upgradable by one smart meter - which begs the question are you on a more complex set-up - or just being confused by a confused customer services operative.

[Some RTS modules only do the switching - for restricted supply and the meter digit set used on a twin rate meter - others do the off peak supply feed and actual metering for off-peak readings.  So in the later cases off peak rate then only applies to HW and heating - in others - more typical of a modern single E7 smart meter - the off peak rate applies to the whole house - during the 7 hours.

Some E7 meters don't even have 2 seperate powered cricuits - heavy consumption off peak devices controlled by external timer / contactors or per device timers to only operate during off peak windows.]

Sadly your experience of normal customer services - matches mine at the old EOn - that many really didn't have much of a clue about older metering standards like RTS and more to the point home wiring implications.  In my case an old twin meter EMEB heatwise RTS set-up with 3 - not e7 or in my case E10's standard 2 - seperated home wiring circuits. The only sensible answers I got in my case re what was going to happen to that third circuit - was from their complex metering team (but not sure it exists per se at the new EOn Next) - I had a direct number - but it stopped working years ago - even before EOn to EOnNext split - but some of the staff might be dotted around.

A photo of your meters / cabinet wiring (serial numbers redacted if visible) might clarify how your system may be operating currently and how easy to replicate.

PS Are they still telling you you will be billed on both registers with single rate if don't swap out RTS metering ?

Scot, Yes they tell me that my meter will work as normal after the RTS is switched off but I will be billed for the Day/Night rate at the same price.. I would just send them the readings as normal.  

Gerry1

Amazing what you can learn from the Torygraph !
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/bbc-switch-off-to-force-almost-a-million-households-to-get-smart-meters/ar-BB1jbe0u
Never knew my RTS was connected to the internet.
Oh well, I'll just have to switch from the Standard Variable Tariff to a fixed tariff, that'll magically make me immune to any problems (and make my broadband go faster).  Scotland will also be safe: the Westerglen and Burghead transmitters won't be affected, only Droitwich.  D'oh !

Worst of all, it implies that you'll be stuck on the day rate if there's no RTS signal.  That's highly unlikely for most RTS domestic customers; it's never happened when Droitwich has been off the air.

Needless to say, there's all the usual nonsense e.g. the first photo captions the IHD as a smart meter and energy is confused with power.

SAC2334

On the subject of THTC meters which should be of interest to all on this metering set up ,a poster on Octopus Tracker chat has reported that after a complaint to Ovo (SSE) she finally got a smart  meter fitted for both her meters and immediately switched supplier to Octopus and is now on Octopus Tracker with a huge drop in kWh prices .
After the hostage of THTC she's finally rid of this meter and Ovos very high rates.
I have a friend in Aberdeenshire on THTC  who has asked a few times to have smart meters fitted to SSE and OVO only to be refused .
Looks like making a complaint may be  the way of escape because Neither OVO or EDf are keen to fit smart meters..Probably because they know the customer leaves immediately