Economy 7 and switch off of Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) - need advice please

toomany_cats

Hi all,

We have an old house that uses, (and needs) Economy 7. We have an RTS meter and realise that it'll be switched off in June. We understand that we probably need a smart meter but there isn't much mobile signal so not sure how successful a smart meter will be. Also, the wiring is old and we're not sure how the house would cope with a smart meter.
We're currently with So Energy but would like to shop around to see if other suppliers are more competitive.

Any advice on the best 'order' to go about this? Should we speak to So Energy regarding how feasible a smart meter will be, or shop around (and potentially switch), and speak to a new supplier re getting a smart meter?

lohr500

The type of signal used by the smart meter will depend on broadly if you live in the south or north of the country.

The age of the wiring shouldn't matter unless the installer finds some problem when attempting to carry out the install. I wouldn't worry about it at this stage.

I would contact SO Energy and ask them how quickly they could arrange for a smart meter to be installed, get them to change it, and then shop around for a better electricity deal. On the day of installation, they will be able to establish if you have a good enough signal or not.

Do you have gas because if so, the gas meter probably wants updating to a smart meter as well.

With regards to your Economy 7 wiring setup : Do you have a separate fuse box/consumer unit that powers storage heaters or similar ONLY during the off-peak periods? If you do, you need to tell So Energy that ant smart meter they plan to install should be either a 5 port meter suitable for Economy &, or a 4 port meter suitable for Economy 7 with an external contactor that they will need to fit. 

bob2302

toomany_cats said:

Hi all,

We have an old house that uses, (and needs) Economy 7. We have an RTS meter and realise that it'll be switched off in June. We understand that we probably need a smart meter but there isn't much mobile signal so not sure how successful a smart meter will be.

It will still work as an E7 meter.

toomany_cats

Hi lohr500 thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Wrt your comment about whether or not we have a separate fuse box for powering the storage heaters during off-peak; I'm not sure tbh. Would it look similar to the other fuse box?

QrizB

toomany_cats said:

Hi lohr500 thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Wrt your comment about whether or not we have a separate fuse box for powering the storage heaters during off-peak; I'm not sure tbh. Would it look similar to the other fuse box?

It might look like the other one or it could be entirely different. When I had storage heaters, in a previous house, the main fusebox was beige bakelite but the storage heaters had a metal-clad box that looked like it was from a mad scientist's lab.

Could you share some photos of your meters and fuse box(es)? We can help you understand what's what.

matelodave

Makes sure that the picture of the meter also shows the cables that are connected to it and where they connect to.

Ildhund

QrizB said:

Could you share some photos of your meters and fuse box(es)? We can help you understand what's what.

... and when you do, please say where you live. The first part of your postcode is usually enough.

bob2302 said:

It will still work as an E7 meter.

You can't be sure of that. Some RTS systems in some parts of the country may well be set to deliver 7 hours of offpeak electricity, but at varying times at the DNO's discretion. There's no knowing how a system like that will behave when the signal is turned off: the heating might be permanently on (expensive!) or permanently off (chilly!), or perhaps stuck on whatever timings were in force when the signal went away. The location may give clues ...

toomany_cats

Hi LL. Really appreciate all the input, thank you. It's the home, (in Sussex) of a relative that we're helping with this so photos will take a while to sort out. In the meantime I'll call So Energy and see if they have any pointers. 
Btw, how do I reply to specific posts (like some of you have done above) on here as opposed to leaving a general comment?

QrizB

toomany_cats said:

Btw, how do I reply to specific posts (like some of you have done above) on here as opposed to leaving a general comment?

At the bottom of each message there's a "quote" button (well, button-ish). Click on that and the message will be copied into the reply box, inside a quote box. You can then trim it to length and add your reply below it.

toomany_cats

QrizB said:

toomany_cats said:

Btw, how do I reply to specific posts (like some of you have done above) on here as opposed to leaving a general comment?

At the bottom of each message there's a "quote" button (well, button-ish). Click on that and the message will be copied into the reply box, inside a quote box. You can then trim it to length and add your reply below it.

Thanks, got it!