RTS meter replacements: A fact finding mission.

Spoonie_Turtle

If installed indoors, it must be on the internal side of an outside wall. Where it is suitable.

Weird. Ours is under the stairs in the kitchen, right in the middle of the house. (Literally the middle.) Always has been including for two recent installations - changing from old Economy 10 meter to modern digital meter in 2019, then to a smart meter a couple of years ago.

Ectophile

What's it got to do with the DNO anyway? The meter doesn't even belong to the DNO; it belongs to your electricity supplier.

QrizB

Just a couple of points, as much for Ildhund as for the OP:

up here smart meters use the mobile phone network

In anywhere that might reasonably count as "up here", smart meters currently use the Arqiva long-range radio (LRR) network, by default.

That's 400MHz-band UHF radio, not mobile phones.

In the odd corner of the northern region where the LRR network isn't available, suppliers are allowed to fit 4G mobile phone communications instead.

the RTS meter didn't need to communicate with anything

The "radio" in Radio Teleswitch was 198MHz shared with Radio 4, broadcast from Rugby, with Scottish repeaters at Burghead and Westerglen. Radio 4 broadcasts stopped on the 27th of June and the transmitters were switched off three days later on the 30th.

Reed_Richards

@Cailleach26 you have never stated which DNO you have. That might prove helpful; it would certainly help to provide a context for "up here".

Ildhund

@QrizB wrote:

In anywhere that might reasonably count as "up here", smart meters currently use the Arqiva long-range radio (LRR) network, by default.

I'm fairly sure there are some areas (like Unst, perhaps? You can't get much upper than that …) where the DCC agreed a few years ago that LRR wasn't working and gave permission for cellular hubs to be installed. The same now applies to many more parts of, particularly, Scotland.

[ETA a few hours later]

I have a feeling that trials were underway in CSP North some years ago of hybrid belt-and-braces hubs fitted with both LRR transceivers and network-agnostic SIM cards. I haven't heard anything about these for a long time, so I wonder if it's just this tired old memory playing tricks on me.

Cailleach26

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82078288#Comment_82078288

"up here" is Highlands & Islands, DNO is SSEN.

And yes, apparently LRR doesn't work here, hence they use mobile phone network. Still, because it is so patchy, many people report that their smart meters had to be installed in dumb mode and they still have to take readings.

Yarrows

LRR would be the default in the Highlands though? My smart meter went in fine with no hassle about having to get a cellular comms hub so as far as I know I'm on the standard LRR.

And just to answer the opening question, two THTC meters (technically one standard meter and one THTC heating meter) fully replaced with one smart meter on E10, in the same location as the original two meters, in a walk in cupboard in the hall on an internal wall between the cupboard and the kitchen. I was offered my choice of Domestic Economy, Economy 10 or single rate and picked E10 because I was worried the older style storage heaters wouldn't handle the reduced charging hours. The smart meter is still smart 18 months later (the storage heaters are gone though!).

Editing to clarify I am very much in Highland region!

EssexHebridean

My understanding is that there are a good few smart meters installed in Uist now without too many problems - indeed, when things don't work up there you usually hear about it reasonably swiftly!

We are another one with a smart meter (electric) installed centrally in the house too. It's frowned upon these days to install a gas meter internally I believe, and certainly in an under stair space due to the associated risks - those risks aren't usually considered to be there with electric meters though as far as I know?

Ildhund

Errr … the Uists (N. and S.) are a long way (~0.52Mm) from Unst.

WiserMiser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82078249#Comment_82078249

The "radio" in Radio Teleswitch was 198MHz shared with Radio 4,
broadcast from Rugby, with Scottish repeaters at Burghead and
Westerglen.

Nope, it was just outside Droitwich, Wychbold to be precise.