RTS meter - can we carry on using this meter?

QrizB

arielsmelody said:

Thanks for replies. I'm not sure if I'm more confused now or not! We had the house rewired and new panel heaters put in because originally it had old-fashioned storage heaters controlled from an obscure and obsolete Manweb control unit.

Panel heaters are popular with landlords because they're cheap to install - about one-fifth the price of storage heaters, unless you fall for the "German heater" snakeoil - but among the most expensive way to heat a property.

It's a bit out of date but I calculatd example heating costs for storage heaters vs. panel heaters here, including "panel heaters on Exonomy 7":

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78557202/#Comment_78557202

Back in January, the prices were:

• Gas: £947/yr
• E7 NSH: £1413/yr
  
• Single-rate panel heaters: £2498/yr
• E7 composite rate panel heaters: £2605/yr
• E7 daytime rate panel heaters: £3095/yr

So running panel heaters on E7 was roughly twice as expensive as E7 storage heaters.

arielsmelody said:

Since the meter was still recording readings day and night and everything worked I  didn't think to ask more questions at the time! It's quite a rural area so the range of tariffs offered is limited - I need to pull out past bills to do the sums.

With panel heaters, you're unlikely to want or need Economy 7.

Compared to standard-rate electricity, Economy 7 has a cheaper overnight tariff but a more expensive daytime tariff. E7 is great for people who can use most of their electricity (usually, for space heating and water heating) during the cheap off-peak overnight period; this needs some way of storing the heat (or of storing electricity) to use later in the day.

This is the opposite of what you want with panel heaters. Panel heaters don't store any heat and so you want a cheaper daytime tariff, which typically means single-rate electricity.

arielsmelody said:

When we get a new meter, do I need to specify that I might want an Economy 7 - type tariff or will any smart meter work?

If you think you might want to go back to storage heaters in future, ask for an Economy 7 smart meter (your supplier should exect this, as you've currently got E7, and your installer should turn up with one ready to fit). An E7 smart meter can be used for standard-rate electricity, but switching a standard-rate installation over to E7 can sometimes be a bit complicated.

People in this thread have already talked about "5 port" meters. You don't strictly need one of these (you can get E7 with a 4-port meter and an external contactor) and it's possible your installer won't even fit one given your current wiring. This shouldn't be a problem for you.

Scot_39

When your mother had the heaters done and house rewired - did the electrician tidy up the meter cabinet in any way - and / or did they replace the old fuse box / CU(s) ?

The meter fitter might come with a dual live / restricted meter - given your on a RTS multirate meter (or at least were) but as above - there may or may not be any wiring for them to connect it to.

My only concern is if they have skipped your mum - in the current focus on RTS meter upgrades - I wonder what the tariff and meter codes are telling them about her installation (*).  And so what info the installer will be given.

You won't get much say in the exact meter - but if you do ever plan to go back to NSH - and dual wired ones at that - you could express a preference of one with ALCS functionality - a 5 port is self contained in one box - but you will have space after RTS removed for a 4 port / auxiliary equivalent.

You can of course have E7 or other modern tariffs on a meter without ALCS functionality.  The tariffs operate regardless.  The ALCS only switches the restricted feeds on / off - the old MANWEB controller would have been doing the same for older heaters.

(* - Perversely we have seen other companies contact folk with that generation/style of Ampy/L+G meter - being flagged as RTS but without any RTS timeswitch present - maybe though theres nearer end of certification life.)

Phones4Chris

I think several posters are forgetting this - 

arielsmelody said:

Thank you everyone for advice.

The tariff isn't called Economy 7 but it is a day/night tariff. The house was converted from storage heaters to panel heaters - we were going to change to a single tariff, but then electricity prices went mad and the heaters are mainly used overnight, so the moment passed and it never got changed. I'm worried about changing the actual meter in January just because if it gets messed up the house won't have any heating at all until it's fixed.

@arielsmelody As your panel heaters are controlled by their own timers (powered as you say 24/7) I'm afraid it's going to be a case of doing your own sums, you'll need to see how much energy you currently use overnight with the panels heaters and what sort of daytime usage you have, to see if an Economy 7 tariff would be best. Any Smart Meter will do Economy 7.

BUT it's a case of whether you might want to use any storage heaters in the future, if so you then really would need to get a 5-port smart meter.
If that is a possibility, then you'd need to ideally say now that you intend to have some storage heaters installed in the near future and want a 5-port Smart Meter (on an E7 tariff - if that works economically with your current set-up).

As you haven't yet got the consumer unit that would handle the NSHs, the meter installer would need to terminate the 5th port in either a Henley Block or a 100A Isolation switch that your electrician would connect the consumer unit to in the future.

The problem you have at present is that as you don't have a working Day/Night or E7 tariff (everything being charged at the one day/peak rate), you will have to take manual meter readings before and after your night usage of the panel heaters kick in and end, so that you can do the sums.

HTH.