Hi @confused off peak b ,

This looks like Single-Phase to me, albeit with two MPANs because of the two-meter setup. If you moved to Smart Meters, one of the meters would be removed and replaced with a Smart Meter, while the other meter (and the timeswitch) would be removed and NOT replaced. It would instead be decommissioned and the related MPAN also terminated - thus reducing you to one Standing Charge rather than two.

Your supplier can help you find a more suitable tariff as well if you chat with them.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have more questions.

I also note that @Tim_OVO has said you’re on the forum moderators watchlist of folks who are waiting for Economy 10 support. I’ll ask him for an update later this week if I can.

Thanks a lot I am being crucified at the moment because the “clever” billings department has issued me with a renewal contract with 2 MPANS both chargeable at the full 28.6 plus vat rate plus 2 standing charges instead of one at peak rate and 0ne standing charge and the other  at off peak rate and one standing charge nobody seems to be able to understand they need to press a button to change the rate on the off peak rate meter charge although they have been working ”very hard “ for the past 4 months with the technical department to figure out who, how and when the buttons need pressing. 

Why oh why cant we go back to the OVO of 12 years ago!! In those days customer services said oh yes we can see the error we will change the figures and re-issue the bill tommorrow. Now it neds a Technical expert to see 2 meters must mean 2 rates, else why do we need the second meter?

Hi, What should be recommended to you, from the photos you supplied, is that You will probably need all of your Electrics looked at before you even consider Meter changes (Old bakelite switches and non RCD consumer units, do not meet building regs and would probably mean any Electrician worth his salt would not even put a new meter on to your system.

  I have no vested interest only experience as a long term property do er upper, and a concern for peoples safety!  

The stance of this forum is that we will also support any advice that helps improve safety. We do also advise that you get professional advice in those cases too - but we will always fully support anyone who spots possible safety issues.

I would highly recommend you get your set up updated by a certified electrician. I recently had both my fuse boxes upgraded to modern units in metal boxes as the old plastic ones are no longer compliant with regulations and I was having my charge point installed so wanted everything safe. The set up I had removed was 25 years more advanced than what you have.

There is a fair bit of work to be done on that wiring and feed. 
It’s not clear from the photo but it looks like there could be more than one main fuse feeding things, meaning it could be 3 phase. 
The E10 problem complicates things but as Blastoise has mentioned, it should be possible to install a single meter to supply everything, all other things being equal

When we changed our more modern boxes to the latest RCD units due to their sensitivity a couple of issues were highlighted which we were previously unaware of. Only mentioned it as OP could do with something dare I say “safer”.

Thank you Blastoise for your answer to my question. I only wanted to know if my existing system is 1 or 3 phase. The other comments are completely irrelevant. I am currently getting the fuse boards ( which were uprated from rewireable fuses to trips 20 years ago) replaced but needed to know what to ask ovo for reference a smart meter setup if they wanted to know was my system 1 or 3 phase.  I also want to know if they will programme a smart meter for economy 10 yet and if they fit a smart meter will they get the supplier to remove the second meter and timer or do i have to do it after the mew meter was fitted. There is so much trouble getting answers from the faceless  people behind the people who answer the phones that I wanted as much info as I could have if they asked me anything as I know nothing about electrical supplies and circuits etc and needed to be prepared for any eventuality.

I have some similar issues to yours, in that I am also on the same tariffs as you are and have two MPANs.  My complication is that I have recently fitted solar panels with a battery and have been trying for some time to get a smart meter fitted.   I have a similar bakelite clock but also my off peak meter is rather more ‘heritage’ than yours and I understand that they are OVO’s property and therefore not to be messed with by me.  My distribution boxes are modern, one for the off peak and one for the standard supply.  I run an electric AGA and some hot water etc from the off peak. I have been assured that my supply is single phase despite the complications and indeed there is a single supply from the grid which is then split.

I have been pleading for a smart meter for some months, initially with SSE and now with OVO so that both supplies can be aligned to a single meter but to no avail because my system is ‘complicated’.  I have been assured that the change will be possible ‘some time before June 2024’.  To add insult to injury the off peak, or ‘heating’ tarrif is close to the standard currently a bit under 5p difference and I find myself importing from the grid at expensive rates and exporting to the grid for which I get no obvious recompense and spend quite a lot of time juggling the panel supply to reduce these effects.

My experience is that some relatively complex systems can be single phase but that you should not hold your breath awaiting installation of a smart meter.

Thanks for your helpful reply rvbaje. I am sorry to hear you are also having trouble with ovo but it is good to know I am not the only one that the “experts” are messing about.

We never had this sort of trouble until Ovo’s founder sold out as this was the company which treated ALL its customers with respect and efficiently dealt with any query by connecting you with the person who would be in a position to answer your query there and then, not after referring it to some faceless wonder who  was totally uncontactable except by an inhouse fellow employee whilst you wait months for an answer or get told to talk to the ombudsman if you are not satisfied.

Obviously the new senior management appear to have gone to the same training school as the post office managers . OOps!

I am glad I decided not to fit solar at the rates they pay for exported power and I am now trying to decide whether to fit new storage heaters, stay with the old underfloor electric heating or move away completely to  a wet system powered by oil ( we have no gas around here.) Looks like all options are going to be costly either for running or installation costs as I dont think I have 10 years for payback time.