RTS Switch Off Meter Query

Peechy69

Hi folks, 
Having scoured the forums and associated links on this topic, I'm at a loss as to whether my electric meter is an RTS one.
I have an Actaris ACE9000 KBD prepayment meter on Economy 7.  It's an SSE owned meter, although I am now with Octopus. It's got a date of 2007 on it, but there doesn't seem to be a large black box anywhere in the vicinity of it with RTS details on.
(I moved into the property in 2018).
I asked Octopus the same question this morning, but they seem unable to give me a straight answer - their answers consist of the following:
1) they encourage me to get a smart meter to prevent anything happening,
2) we cannot rectify this teleswitch service issue without replacing your meter with a smart meter.

If indeed the meter is not RTS, then I won't have any more concerns.  If it IS RTS, then I will have to get it replaced with a Smart Meter.

Swipe

Post a photo and we'll identify it for you. Octopus won't know what you've got.

BarelySentientAI

The meter isn't RTS, but that doesn't mean your system isn't.

It's only a 4 terminal meter, so something else is doing any time switching that you have going on.

Oh, and by the way, that model has a 15 year certification so it's out of date and they can now change it any time they like.

Peechy69

Here's a pic of the meter as requested.

Peechy69

BarelySentientAI said:

The meter isn't RTS, but that doesn't mean your system isn't.

It's only a 4 terminal meter, so something else is doing any time switching that you have going on.

Oh, and by the way, that model has a 15 year certification so it's out of date and they can now change it any time they like.

Thanks BarelySentientAI, how do I check if my system is or isn't RTS please?

BarelySentientAI

Peechy69 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

The meter isn't RTS, but that doesn't mean your system isn't.

It's only a 4 terminal meter, so something else is doing any time switching that you have going on.

Oh, and by the way, that model has a 15 year certification so it's out of date and they can now change it any time they like.

Thanks BarelySentientAI, how do I check if my system is or isn't RTS please?

Do you have anything that only comes on at off-peak hours?  If so, what decides when they turn on?

Peechy69

BarelySentientAI said:

Peechy69 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

The meter isn't RTS, but that doesn't mean your system isn't.

It's only a 4 terminal meter, so something else is doing any time switching that you have going on.

Oh, and by the way, that model has a 15 year certification so it's out of date and they can now change it any time they like.

Thanks BarelySentientAI, how do I check if my system is or isn't RTS please?

Do you have anything that only comes on at off-peak hours?  If so, what decides when they turn on?

Yes, hot water and storage heaters (storage heaters have extra switch for me so I can turn them off in summer). There's a switch on the wall next to the boiler, which is permanently on for hot water. When I was with SSE they told me they're in control of the off-peak switch on/off times. 

BarelySentientAI

Peechy69 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

Peechy69 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

The meter isn't RTS, but that doesn't mean your system isn't.

It's only a 4 terminal meter, so something else is doing any time switching that you have going on.

Oh, and by the way, that model has a 15 year certification so it's out of date and they can now change it any time they like.

Thanks BarelySentientAI, how do I check if my system is or isn't RTS please?

Do you have anything that only comes on at off-peak hours?  If so, what decides when they turn on?

Yes, hot water and storage heaters (storage heaters have extra switch for me so I can turn them off in summer). There's a switch on the wall next to the boiler, which is permanently on for hot water. When I was with SSE they told me they're in control of the off-peak switch on/off times. 

So somewhere between the meter and the storage heater/immersion heater switches there is either a mechanical timer or an RTS unit (a radio-controlled switch).  That's what you need to find.  SSE could probably say they are in control either way, but it's more common a description of RTS.

Follow the right-hand black cable out of your meter and see where it goes.  There will probably be at least one thing (more likely two things) on that cable between the meter and the grey fuse box on the same wall.  It's a little odd, because I'd expect it to be on the live (red) cable, but that goes straight into the fuse box and the black one doesn't look like it does.

Peechy69

RH black cable from meter goes to small black box on wall in corner, which has 2 other black cables, 1 which leads to large grey peak unit, the other to small grey off-peak unit below meter.  Pic below of black box.

BarelySentientAI

That's a junction box (often called a Henley block).  Makes sense.

If there's nothing else, then it must be the 5-terminal version of the meter (which has a timer built in).  Didn't look like that from your earlier photographs (or the first wiring diagram I found), but there is one.  You can check that, if each of the cables coming out of the bottom of the meter come out of a different hole then it's the 5-terminal.

That means that your system is not RTS at all.

Swipe

RTS devices usually have "Radio Teleswitch" written on them somewhere.