RTS (Radio Teleswitch Service) Shutdown Update

The phone number is 0333 034 1622. I had to log into my online account and go to the smart meter install tab and it came up with the specific  number for RTS replacement as it recognises from your account that you have an unusual meter setup. Hope this helps.

Just watched the BBC Panorama programme this evening on smart meters. All very disappointing & worrying with so many not working correctly smart meters. Even more extraordinary, absolutely no mention of the RTS switch off next June which supposedly means thousands & thousands of people will have no choice except to add to the woeful statistics. Why has this RTS situation been told to or been picked up by the media. What is going on here? Is it as desperate as we are being told?

And that’s exactly why you shouldn’t just blindly believe what they put on TV without checking for yourself.

Looks like I’m in for a long week...

All I was asking is why nobody in the media has picked up on the RTS switch off & what it means for people/smart meters!

Ohhhh OK, sorry! I thought you were after something else!!!

FULL DISCLOSURE: @Blastoise186 works in the Film & TV/Film & Media industry these days, but remains in an IT Admin role and doesn’t work for any news vendor, outlet or publisher. His views are his own and also don’t reflect those of OVO. Likewise, he has no control over what gets published in newspapers or broadcast on TV. He doesn’t even write the news either! :)

Now that is an interesting question. Honestly wish I could answer that, but the truth is I genuinely don’t have a clue. The closest I’ve got is basically the guide I wrote for this thread you’re in now, and the one I wrote a few years ago. Both of them have been reviewed by OVO’s teams at least once and as far as we know, they’re accurate.

My only guess - and this really is just a guess so please don’t send the lawyers after me - is that perhaps the RTS side/element of the story “wasn’t as interesting” or noteworthy enough to make the final cut perhaps?

If you think about it, big scary “Smart Meters are broken for everyone” story is what gets the headlines and makes the money. Some teeny tiny RTS Story that only affects a “small number” of customers just doesn’t have the same level of appeal to it.

Actually, there WAS an RTS shutdown item on the BBC Scotland News a few weeks ago.

I can only find this number referenced by a customer in another RTS topic. I’d advise reaching out to the support team who can put you through to the correct department. I’m sorry for any confusion caused.

Not much happening on this forum section so I thought I’d post a wee update - briefly.

A whole month now since out RTS switch to smart-meter E10 !

Difficult to be certain (yet) but things appear to be functioning - and we (still) have heating and hot water - woohoo. Have been manually monitoring daily/hourly consumption via the visual display/monitor - just to keep a paper record in case of any future ‘discrepancies’ or ‘inaccuracies’ when we finally get our first bill !!!   Impossible to decipher the minimal figures showing up on our account pages so far despite the blurb assuring me that our meter  IS  sending in readings “every half-hour”  - hm …

I will be fascinated to see what bill eventually surfaces and whether it makes any sense - but I’m not happy that putting up accurate figures to my account is simply not being done … yet - all I can see is the standing charges ! and the final THTC readings ! £20 +/- … if only that WERE the whole picture ! hah

More anon…

PS.  As my credit balance is pretty healthy right now I thought I’d request a bit of a refund … seasonal bonus etc ? Anyway - request denied : as, apparently, we haven’t been sending in meter readings over the past 28 days !!! !!!  Aaaaaaargh    Smart-meter efficiency automated advantages !!! aye

Does my confidence in the system remain high ?   You tell me.

It takes up to six weeks before everything settles in properly following a meter swap. Taking a refund during that time is generally not recommended - it’s best to leave the credit in the account until after the six weeks are up.

At very least, we strongly recommend you wait for the first bill that references the new meter before considering taking a refund.

HM…

that first bill could be THAT bad ?!

it had better be accurate : not yet convinced the switching prices/times for E10 setup is actually doing its thing properly - and hard to monitor right now : yes, early days, but I’m watching !!!

While the IHD (what we usually call the ‘visual display/monitor’) can be helpful as an indication of what’s going on, it’s not a really good way of checking whether your bills are accurate. Think of it as a quick reference, not an accurate representation.

First, ‘readings every half hour’. This is just one of the misleading terms I come across when dealing with electricity consumption. This should be posted somewhere:
  

  
I’m not sure what you mean by ‘minimal figures ...’. When your account is up and running smoothly, you should see meter readings listed  by peak and offpeak register on the Meter readings page. These are the numbers used to calculate your bill.

You should see usage data on the … errr …  Usage pages. Half-hourly figures are on the Day tab, below the pretty bar chart.

If either of these listings is missing or incomplete, be patient. They should settle down eventually. A major change like installing a new type of meter on a completely different contract involves a great deal of deskwork, some of it manual. Different bits of the system have to be updated, ranging from the people responsible for preparing bills to the devs responsible for the website, the data service provider who pushes information about your setup around the industry, and the National Database itself which tries to keep track of every electricity meter in the country with details of where it is, who owns it and how it’s configured. All of those updates happen independently and at different speeds; to me it’s amazing that in most cases, the process is completed in six weeks. 

My dad's bill for last month only went to the manual readings I entered on meter change date, nothing for the following week. I contacted OVO via chat to ensure smart meter readings being received. I was told they can see the 30 minute readings and all working fine, but will take up to 6 weeks to get everything configured and updated. Also cannot see usage on online account yet but IHD seems fine.

Just downloaded my first bill since changeover from THTC to Econ10.  The bill purports to be for the usual full month (it has 31 days of Standing Charge) but only details the two old meters - there’s absolutely no mention of the week and a half’s worth of Econ 10.  Daresay it’ll be sorted in later bill(s).

I'm 2 months in on my new smartmeter. Haven't had a bill for it yet, only a part month from my THTC meters. My IHD seems to be working as it should and it's quite interesting to keep an eye on it to see what racks up the biggest use.  My smartmeter has 2 tarrif rates which i have checked a few times to confirm the switch between rates. It gives me individual counts of how much energy has been used on both tarrifs and tells me what this will cost in total.  I can see on my OVO account the auto readings, 2 per day, 1 for each rate. I can't yet see usage as it says my system isn't supported. My bill for last month is just the standing charge, so far. I'm actually quite pleased with how it has gone and not unduly worried about the time to update everything, the money's there for when it happens and all the readings marry up so all good. Of course it helped that the installation engineer walked us through it all very simply as we had the same fears as most folk about the change. This forum also helped immensely.  We are in Dundee, Scotland.

It’s great to hear that everything’s working as expected (well, almost) 🙂

What is the exact wording of that message? I ask because it sounds odd …

With any luck, you’ll be able to access this sub-page of your Profile page: Edit meter reads frequency - OVO Energy You’ll only see half-hour usage data if the top option is selected. It’s supposed to be selected by default, but we’ve seen evidence that this isn’t always the case.

I can’t think of any reason not to select the Settlement half-hourly option, too.

The message is as follows:

Usage

Your meter setup isn't supported

Right now, we can't show a usage graph for your meter setup. We're working on improving this, but in the meantime you can see your energy consumption on your bills.

The edit meter reads frequency is set at 1/2 hrly for both frequency and settlement.

That’s good.

That’s not so good. I’m guessing that this is because you’re coming off a complicated two-meter THTC system, whereas the usage stuff can only cope with one meter at a time. Until the changes to your supply have made their way on to the national database (remove one meter, change the configuration of the other), you’ll have to do without the usage data at the website. Those database updates don’t always happen as quickly as you’d like ...

You may be able to download the half-hourly usage data with the help of a third-party app or utility, if you’re really keen. Here are some suggestions (there’s quite a bit of reading accumulated over the years, but what’s at the end won’t necessarily make sense unless you’ve at least skimmed what goes before):
  
Energy usage data from third party Apps: Ivie, Loop and Hugo - my guide
Can I access downloadable usage data for prior year?
Can we get access to the OVO energy online account API to download our smart meter usage data?  

I have a Landis+Gyr E150 meter in my rented flat which was replaced in August 2021. OVO have sent me multiple letters and messages to say I need to change the meter before the RTS switch off however as far as I can see this meter works on an internal clock and there is no external Teleswitch in circuit. Is this correct? I am on an Economy 10 Tarif. Thank you! An email to OVO with photos of the meter was ignored.

Hi ​@pennard ,

Are you sure you got the L+G E150 part right? IIRC that model has never been used in the UK. Can you post photos of what you’ve got please?

​@Blastoise186 Thanks for the quick reply. Here’s a photo.

I see. I could also do with seeing everything else on the backboard as well.

Can I send you a DM or email?

I’m afraid DM’s here don’t support images and I can’t give you my email address. Did you need to keep something hidden from public view?

I’m not sure, the board has the meters for 3 other flats as well as mine.

Ahh ok, I’ll work with what I’ve already got in that case.

It doesn’t look like you’ve got Economy 10 - that meter is a Single-Rate Meter by the looks of things. Are you sure you’re on E10?