Location?

Just a quick heads up - don’t forget that Northern Scotland and Southern Scotland are two different MPAN Areas, so have different rates, partially because they’re managed by two different DNO’s as well.

It’s not clear who you’re replying to here. I think both @Mo59  and @thelearner  are in Northern Scotland (Scottish Hydro region 17, otherwise P), while @johndebs  is in darkest Gloucestershire (probably West Midlands region 14 or E).

This just illustrates that it’s a really good idea when writing about timings and rates to give the region concerned. The two-digit number (here 17 or 14) is at the beginning of the MPAN’s bottom line. The MPAN is always given on bills; but the 13-digit number can for many customers now be seen on the meter read settings page, unhelpfully labelled Electricity meter: serial … (unhelpfully, because the Meter Serial Number, MSN, is a different animal altogether, shown on the meter itself and unique to it).

I am NE Scotland post code AB43. Still don't have appointment yet for meter replacement.

Hi there, first time poster, thanks for all the help and reassurances given in this thread that I’ve had a read through.

I’ve got my appointment in a couple of weeks. 

On reading back then disappointing to read that some people have had problems, eg a new meter but not programmed to E10 as requested and set up as a single tarrif.

Is there any easy way for us to check that things have been set up as they are supposed to be, that we can do before the engineer leaves ? 

Perhaps something to check on the meter or the IHD that will show the meter is set up as E10 or E7, etc ?

There is a way @ManseRunner , which is to check what the meter is doing during an E10 Off-Peak period. That’s the easiest option.

Sadly, I don’t think there is, but I wish there were. The engineer will do what he’s supposed to do, and the app he uses will tell him whether everything’s all right or not. He won’t leave until all his boxes are ticked.

The faults you’ve read about are all - I think - ones that can only be corrected remotely by the smart team at HQ. They aren’t necessarily caused by the engineer doing something wrong.

This is supposing, of course, that communications are established, and this you can check for yourself on the meter by looking at the LED indicators on the communications hub on top of the meter. It may take some time for this to happen, so don’t panic immediately. The engineer will try and wait a bit, but not for long. You’re hoping to see the WAN and HAN LEDs flash at five-second intervals.

I’ll say again:  it’s a really good idea when posting here to give the region concerned. If you don’t know which region you’re in, this map may help.

Do you mean to check if it is charging the storage heaters ? My heaters don’t have an indicator to show whether or not they are are charging. Plus depending on the time the engineer comes, it may not be in an off-peak period. 
I was wondering more if there was something simple like a sequence of buttons on the IHD, for example, that would show whether you were on 1 or 2 tarrifs, and what those tarrifs were - I could then compare those with what my E10 tarrifs are.

Ahh apologies, I must have mis-understood. 
I’m in North Scotland, which I knew could be important if I had a specific query about tarrifs or appointments, etc but thought that as my query was quite generic it wouldn’t matter. Will ensure I include it in any future posts 

You should be able to ask the engineer to show you how to check what’s active - or we can if needed but we can only do that once it’s been installed.

Thanks - I’d guessed you were north of the border, because we don’t have many manses to run to or from down here  

However, it matters in all sorts of respects. For example, smart meters use a way of communicating in the northern half of Britain different from the rest further south. This means that they have a different sort of communications hub (CH), one with only two LEDs. I was about to write that the LEDs will flash at five-second intervals, but then I remembered that this might be confusing for a customer in the southern zone, because their CH has five LEDs, at least two of which should be flashing.

A bit like “In Scotland, the cows are black.”   

I’d like to know if there is any overall project plan for the installations? I would have expected that a project plan with numbers of customers in each area would be the basis of scheduling, with a plan to cover all before June; and that the poor folk on the end of the phone could be made aware of the month in which a particular area is expected to be covered. Then they would not have to deal with so many unhappy customers when they cannot give any information other than there are no appointments available now in an area.  From the outside it seems like a big project that is not being managed well, and may not be adequately resourced.

Another point I would like to have answered  is the question of THTC continuing in load managed areas- can you tell me how I would know if we were in the load managed area (MPAN starts 17)?

THanks

AFAIK there is indeed one, but it’s not something that can be shared publicly, apologies.

But it is complicated because some customers will inevitably literally hold out until the very last minute…

If you’re in MPAN Area 17, you might have to remain on THTC post-migration, or you might be removed from THTC post-migration. The only way to know for sure is to attempt to book the upgrade. There are no public maps of LMA’s, sorry.

They’re also a moving target, making things even more complicated. A map today could be outdated tomorrow.

Just a quick update on my resheduled meter appointment.  As stated earlier, my previous appointment was a “no show” by the engineer and was told to wait 10 days before trying to reschedule. Good news, I received an email from OVO today saying I was to receive £30 compensation and to phone and make a new apppointment.  I did this and was given a range of appointments from 6th November.  I did ask for one in the morning to try and ensure that I was not the last appointment of the day and maybe get another “no show”.  All done and confirmed with Economy 10 tariff:

Standing charge 59.95

Peak  0.2492

Off Peak. 0.2025

all excluding vat

and hours as stated on the OVO website for MPAN region 17.

Fingers crossed all goes well this time.

well done - it can be done !   Best of luck for a successful installation and setup as well.

We finally got our installation/meter replacement earlier this week and I’m glad to say the engineer visit went smoothly. Very proficient and professional. All seems to be ok so far.

Very early days yet so we are monitoring carefully ! but everything is still working - we think !

The new E10 tariff appears to be working ok too  - though it is tricky to know if all the Off-Peak times ARE set up properly and performing as they should. Hard to judge right now … and we won’t get a “bill” for some time - apparantly - so all fingers crossed.

But overall - encouraged that it CAN be done. Its another waiting game now to see if it has all been a success. Let’s hope so … More as and when.

This is brilliant to hear @Dunny-side-A & @metalsman. Thanks for the update! 

I called today about my dad and uncle’s meter change appointment, what an amazingly good experience compared to my last call when 3 different people failed to help me. 

Today got a lovely woman called Lauren, who immediately knew what I was calling about, extremely knowledgable, and confirmed the meter change engineer would program all devices to the chosen tarriff economy hours. 

My dad has appointment Oct 31st and my uncle on 2nd Dec. I will be there on 31st so will report back then. 

Hey @thelearner

I’m happy to hear that you had a great experience with Lauren and that they were able to give you all the information that you needed. 

Keep us updated with the results of your meter replacements 

I have a relative who has Economy 10 with an old SSE-era RTS meter. She has long wanted to have a smart meter installed due to mobility issues and consequent difficulties in reading the current meter, but I have told her not to, because she would lose her E10 tariff.

I now understand that Ovo will be able to offer E10 on a smart meter, but she has yet to be contacted regarding a meter switch. She is in MPAN area 17.

Should she wait for a letter, or contact Ovo? I understood that Ovo were writing to all RTS customers, starting from August, but she has heard nothing yet? Can you give any information regarding  progress on this rollout? 

I have been asking OVO to replace my telemeter and single rate meter with a single meter for the best part of this year. After 4 failed ‘smart’ appointments, they wrote to me telling me they need to do exactly what I had been asking them to do, as the RTS would soon become obsolete. They duly booked my appointment for this Wednesday. I had a long chat with an OVO customer advisor, going through the various tariffs and choosing the most suitable one. This was in early September. 

I was very grateful to receive three emails reminding me of this exciting appointment, and as the day dawned even closer I then received a couple of texts - the latest on Monday. At this point my excitement was getting too hard to contain. As Wednesday arrived I was filled with hope, I would soon have a single functioning Smart meter, not two meters with one (the Telemeter) not working. I could plan to have new electric radiators fitted. 

Alas, my excitement led to nothing - no engineer. Apparently, the engineer decided to record on his work sheet that I had cancelled my appointment before the day. Just a made up excuse to not bother coming. The next free appointment is December. Given I have no centralised heating in the house, just expensive fan heaters, I can’t explain how disappointed I am. 

I know it doesn’t answer your query for your mum. Just advising you not to get too excited with anything to do with OVO and meter replacements. 

@macman OVO does now support Economy 10 with Smart Meters. If you didn’t get contacted yet, I recommend you get in touch with Support via 0330 303 5063 or Live Chat via https://ovoenergy.com/help . Your mum WILL be able to keep E10 as part of the migration.

Wouldn’t bother. They’ve sent me three emails now to switch,saying each time there’s available appointments in my area and when you contact to book ,they tell you there isn’t any. 


I’d suggest the emails are misleading people and thinking about complaining as it’s just a lot of hassle and stress. The documentary re smart meters on Channel 5 last night only confirms it.

@mrsparkles5481 Chances are the slots were opened up - but just got gobbled up rapidly by folks with fast fingers. It does happen!

More slots will open up ASAP.