RTS meter, does this one need to change?

SteveMutts51

Hi all,
Until today i was oblivious to the the RTS signal turn off till i heard an announcement  on the radio.

I haven't been contacted my my supplier (octopus) about changing the meter, they had been replaced 7 years ago. Do any of you know if this type will need replacing? I am hesitant to contact Octopus as they will just want to replace it with a smart meter anyway.

I run a water storage boiler off economy 7, but i can adjust the time for that manually if needed. But my big question is that i have a Dimplex quantum smart storage heater that heats off a spur of the night meter and only comes on then, what will happen if it goes on a smart meter will it not be triggered to come on??

Thank you all 
Steve 

 

QrizB

That's another L&G 5246C and yours is the third one we've seen this year so far!

It's not an RTS meter. Yours seems to be dated 2017 so there's life in it yet.

However you can probably save a bit of money by getting a smart meter and switching to a smart tariff. Old-style meters are excluded from most of the best deals.

QrizB

SteveMutts51 said:

I haven't been contacted my my supplier (octopus) about changing the meter, they had been replaced 7 years ago.

That fits with it having been made in 2017.

SteveMutts51 said:

I run a water storage boiler off economy 7, but i can adjust the time for that manually if needed. But my big question is that i have a Dimplex quantum smart storage heater that heats off a spur of the night meter and only comes on then, 

You sound a good candidate for Snug Octopus:

https://octopus.energy/smart/snug-octopus

SteveMutts51

Good info thank you.

So a question to ask about the storage meter  being connected to the night meter spur and how will a smart meter over come that

QrizB

SteveMutts51 said:

Good info thank you.

So a question to ask about the storage meter  being connected to the night meter spur and how will a smart meter over come that

If you look at the bottom of your existing meter, you'll see five thick cables. The right-most one with three orange bands is the switched E7 supply. This supply is the "night meter spur" to your Dimplex Quantum (a good choice, by the way, they get a lot of love here on the Energy forum).

The replacement smart meter will most probably have five ports, just like your current meter does. The E7 switched circuit will be connected and will be automatically switched on and off by the smart meter when you have your cheap rate period, just like it does now.

(It's possible that the smart meter installer will use a four port meter and a separate contactor. Less elegant but it works in the same way and will still switch the Quantum to charge on cheap rate.)