RTS Meter Replacement - 4 or 5-Terminal Smart Meter?

Phones4Chris

@TCA An HCALCS is not a hard-wired contactor, it's a wireless version and must be quite rare. Leave it out of any email to Octopus, just talk about the limited space and the need for a 5-port Smart Meter.

TCA

Phones4Chris said:

If you have trouble with any agent giving you bull over HCALCS nonsense or an additional contactor, tell them you want to speak to their specialist smart meter team, and end up getting it confirmed in writing/email that they will supply a 5-port meter.

@Phones4Chris called it correctly. Email reply back from Octopus:

"I completely understand your concerns, especially given the importance of having a reliable heating and hot water system. I appreciate you highlighting the differences between the 4-port and 5-port smart meters. Your points about the additional complexity and space requirements for the contactor unit are valid, and I can see why you would prefer the 5-port option for a more straightforward and dependable setup. However we can only install the 4-port smart meter on to our installation team as it will be sufficient for an eco 7"

I've found an email address for the Octopus smart meter team (smart@octopus.energy), so will try them directly and not waste any further time with this agent.

Phones4Chris

Personally, I'm disappointed in Octopus over this. They, like all suppliers, have known about the RTS closedown for a very long time, and most people with RTS systems have Eco 7 or 10 and it controls storage and off-peak water heating. THAT is precisely what 5-port meters are designed to do. Suppliers would know roughly how many customers have such systems that need replacing some while ago, they should have made sure that they had/have sufficient suppliers of 5-port meters.
@TCA Keep hassling them about it, they should go and find a 5-port meter for you. It's not like they don't exist!

QrizB

Of course if they turn up with a 4-port meter and an external contactor, and everything fits in the meter cabinet, there's no problem.

TCA

QrizB said:

Of course if they turn up with a 4-port meter and an external contactor, and everything fits in the meter cabinet, there's no problem.

True. I'll check out exactly what the available cabinet space is like next time I'm there.

And of course what I'm told by email might have zero bearing on what actually turns up.

Phones4Chris

QrizB said:

Of course if they turn up with a 4-port meter and an external contactor, and everything fits in the meter cabinet, there's no problem.

Whilst of course that may be the case, it's really no excuse for not fitting 5-port meters 

TCA

TCA said:

@Phones4Chris called it correctly. Email reply back from Octopus:

"I completely understand your concerns, especially given the importance of having a reliable heating and hot water system. I appreciate you highlighting the differences between the 4-port and 5-port smart meters. Your points about the additional complexity and space requirements for the contactor unit are valid, and I can see why you would prefer the 5-port option for a more straightforward and dependable setup. However we can only install the 4-port smart meter on to our installation team as it will be sufficient for an eco 7"

I've found an email address for the Octopus smart meter team (smart@octopus.energy), so will try them directly and not waste any further time with this agent.

Just a quick update. I tried the email address above and received an email back from the very same Octopus agent I'd been dealing with (who must've been allocated to all my emails), but she did say she'd escalate it to the metering specialists. Which begs the question of who'd she'd been talking to all this time. Anyhow, the same message came back. The setup is compatible for a 4-port smart meter blah blah blah.....

The suggestion was then to contact Octopus Energy Services. No contact details were supplied and I couldn't find any online (other than for EV charging), so I asked for them and she came back with a phone number and email address for EV charger installations. Very poor indeed.

So I decided (after 24 days of fruitless emailing) I'd try direct messaging via Twitter/X instead. After explaining the situation, the Octopus agent made contact with the metering team, forwarded a few photos I'd taken to show the space restriction, and they confirmed that a 5-port smart meter will be installed. As easy as that. The installation is going ahead tomorrow, so fingers crossed everything goes ok.

One last question, just so I'm prepared for the engineer:

The hot water setup is via a MEGAflo high efficiency unvented direct cylinder which currently heats the water overnight in the E7 period, which the whole house is on, apart from the storage heaters.

There are two cables from the cylinder. One cable leads to a boost control unit which is always switched off. Presumably this is only used when hot water runs out and you need a quick boost at peak rates. The other cable leads to a switch which is labelled both "off peak" and "immersion heater" and is always switched on.

I don't see any kind of timers so I'm wondering if this should just continue to work as it does now when the new meter is installed? Does anyone know if timing on these cylinders is programmed at installation or would this somehow be connected to RTS switching of E7 times?

Thanks in advance. Some images attached.

Scot_39

Looks like as you say it's setup already for RTS switched supply.

The new meter will switch the supply on - just as the old RTS did - and the thermostat will cut it off when setpoint reached.

Others do fit timers even on the restricted immersion heaters to hard cap bills - but I just trust the thermostat to do so.

And my tank is actually regularly being het 3x a day on my E10 tariff.

TCA

Thanks @Scot_39. Appreciate the quick reply.

Phones4Chris

@TCA Great news, hope your 5-port meter installation goes OK.
Should the worst happen and the installer not turn up with a 5-port meter, show him the Octopus email saying you would get a five port, and if they haven't got one, tell them to go away and get one