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lyeuhm
Rank 1
lyeuhm
Rank 1
February 27, 2023
Solved

THTC / Separate Radio Teleswitch and Meter- Can I get a smart meter?

  • February 27, 2023
  • 291 replies
  • 8053 views

Hoping someone here can help because this has been an on-going battle since before OVO took over SSE and it’s gotten progressively worse recently. 

I live in a house that’s meters haven’t been checked, inspected, whatever since at least 1993.  I have two meters - one for my storage heaters and water tank, and one for standard electricity.  I’ve been trying to get this changed to either a smart meter if available OR just a standard single meter with a day or night rate. 

I have email chain(s) going on with SSE/OVO (One email chain is using @sseenergyservices.com and the other is @ovo.com hence posting here) that I seem to just be going around in circles.  I finally got through to the Electric Heating Team (EHT) about two weeks ago who changed me onto a single rate THTC tarrif, so both my standard and heating meters are at the same rate - but based on the readings that I’ve been providing, it’s still nearly 500 a month just for two storage heaters and a water tank.

Has anyone else had problems being switched to a single meter?  It’s driving me insane and I can’t change providers even if I wanted to because I’m currently bent over a barrel with an old meter system that they won’t change that no one else supports.

 

Edit: Just to add, it’s Radio Teleswitch Total Heat Total Control (THTC) to be specific.

Best answer by Emmanuelle_OVO

Updated on 16/05/25 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

 

Update on RTS shutdown:

 

As part of the RTS Project development, we are really happy to share with you our progress:

 

As you may be aware, the RTS signal that instructs some of our meters when to move to the “Off Peak Period”  will be closing down soon and we need to arrange for all of our RTS customers to have a meter exchange so they don’t lose any of their meter functionality.

 

The RTS signal will end for our customers on 30 June 2025. The period between 1 July - 30 September 2025 will then be used to close-down the RTS signal and allow us to manage any unexpected customers impacted.

 

After a very successful pilot, from the 17th June 2024 we will begin writing to our Economy 10 RTS customers to invite them to call us to arrange for their meter exchange. 

 

We are continuing to work at pace to enable the same solution for the majority of our other RTS customers and our aim is to begin writing to these customers in Aug 2024. 

 

We will continue to update you on our progress.

Hey @Noz1954,

 

I don’t know the exact figures, I’ll see if I can find out. I’d imagine a few thousand as Blastoise advised.

 

We’ve had a couple of customers on the Forum who’ve advised they have THTC set ups, would be interesting to get a conversation going. 

 

 

We’ve got an FAQ on exotic types which might have some useful information:

 

 

291 replies

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M
Newcomer
metalsman
Newcomer
August 27, 2024

… they could have written to all the residents in our estate (123 of us and we are nearly all on THTC) and scheduled the whole estate to be done at the one time.
 

Meters are the responsibility of the supplier, so OVO would only ever write to its own customers. Do you know that all of the residents are still with OVO? Granted, if there’s only one meter installation contractor in the area, he might save himself and the customers a bit of time by concentrating his efforts on a single estate, at the expense of course of all the others not on the estate waiting patiently for their turn. That would involve a major coordination exercise between customers, suppliers and installers, but I agree it might make sense. There’s a month’s work to be done, after all, at the rate of 6 meter exchanges a day.

Hi, apart from those residents who have ditched their storage heaters and installed oil fired boilers to their homes (a couple of dozen at most) everyone else, to my knowledge, have the RTS meter and, as no other supplier normally takes these customers on because of the RTS meter, I conclude from that that customers will still be on THTC tariff from OVO.  In our village there is another large estate which is similar to ours in that they have storage heaters also (no mains gas in our village).  OVO could send a squad of installers to our village and would be fully occupied for weeks.

    Firedog
    Super User
    FiredogSuper User
    Super User
    August 27, 2024

    Interesting. How old are these installations? Meters should have a certification stamp on them giving the date. It should theoretically make it a simpler exercise to exchange a lot of identical old meters for identical new ones, assuming that OVO’s new metering stuff can cope with the current arrangements. 

    There is some prioritization of sites to be dealt with, but I’ve no idea how it works. We may have something more to share about this in a couple of days’ time.

    Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |
      M
      Newcomer
      metalsman
      Newcomer
      August 28, 2024

      Interesting. How old are these installations? Meters should have a certification stamp on them giving the date. It should theoretically make it a simpler exercise to exchange a lot of identical old meters for identical new ones, assuming that OVO’s new metering stuff can cope with the current arrangements. 

      There is some prioritization of sites to be dealt with, but I’ve no idea how it works. We may have something more to share about this in a couple of days’ time.

      The two housing estates that I mentioned were built in the mid to late 1990’s and, when built, all had THTC tariff electric storage and panel heating installed although some residents have since installed oil fired boilers. 

      My normal domestic meter is the one installed when new in 1996 (certification stamp 96) and the RTS meter was changed in 2004 (certification stamp 04).

        M
        Newcomer
        metalsman
        Newcomer
        August 28, 2024

        An update.  I have just received an email from OVO asking me to phone them to arrange for a new meter to be installed.  Will keep you up to date.

          Blastoise186
          Super User
          Blastoise186Super User
          Super User
          August 29, 2024

          We’ve just had a very, VERY good chat with someone from OVO who knows about this stuff. This contact of ours is an OVO Engineer who just so happens to know an absolute ton.

          Long story short, he agrees that in an ideal world, you would have a few engineers swing by to the estates you all mentioned and just speedrun the entire lot at once. But it’s not always that simple.

          We’d suggest getting as many of your neighbours as possible to book in for similar dates and OVO will try to figure this out. Extra engineers can be called in if needed.

          Hope this helps!

          Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
            I
            Rank 6
            Infiltrator
            Rank 6
            August 29, 2024

            Here’s an article that may be of interest if you haven’t seen it already.

            John's switch from restricted to single meter wasn't easy | Home Energy Scotland

             

            Seen this previously. I've been told by OVO that when they install the new meter to replace the THTC setup they'll look to arrange to have the 2nd meter point reference de-energised and move me to a single meter point reference number to allow me to move to a single tariff. Hardly a 100% guarantee but I do have it in writing from OVO following a successful complaint to the ombudsman.

            A friend of mine who lives a few miles from me has THTC and is with Utility warehouse (storage htrs removed so static meter reading) has just been informed they're shortly fitting a smart meter and removing the redundant meter for the storage heaters.

            Does look like things are starting to move in the right direction.

            Just to close out my contributions to this post. I had my appt this week to remove my THTC and RTS kit and to fit a new smart meter. The OVO contract metering engineer turned up as planned and was all done, including successful commissioning, in about 2 hours, very knowledgeable and helpful chap.

            About 3 weeks ago we tore out the storage heaters and fitted an air to air heat pump. We've now had the 3 meter 2 mpan system and the RTS kit removed and we have a new smart meter, just waiting for the OVO system to update so we can select a tariff that works best for us. Will also keep chasing OVO too ensure the UK database is updated should we wish to consider other suppliers in the future. 

            Also very impressed with the air to air heat pump heating, works very well, very controllable and cheap to keep the house warm, a major leap forward from storage heating.

              Blastoise186
              Super User
              Blastoise186Super User
              Super User
              August 29, 2024

              Nice one! Thanks for letting us know.

              Just so you know, please allow OVO a few weeks to sort things out - six weeks is about average for this stuff. :)

              Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
                Chris_OVO
                Community Manager
                Chris_OVO
                Community Manager
                August 29, 2024

                Hey @Infiltrator,

                 

                Happy to hear everything went smoothly for you! 

                 

                Congratulations on your new heat pump! I’ve added a badge to your profile to show you’re part of our heat pump community. How’re you finding the heat pump compared to your storage heaters? 

                Renewable energy jokes never get old.
                I
                Rank 6
                Infiltrator
                Rank 6
                August 29, 2024

                Hey @Infiltrator,

                 

                Happy to hear everything went smoothly for you! 

                 

                Congratulations on your new heat pump! I’ve added a badge to your profile to show you’re part of our heat pump community. How’re you finding the heat pump compared to your storage heaters? 

                Heat pump (air 2 air) means almost instant heat when you want it, ran it for 2.5 hours last night, it's a small 2 bed semi detached, room temp was 17 Deg C, quickly achieved the target 21 Deg C, 3 wall mounted units, 2 x 2kw, 1 x 2.5kw, total elec used was 1.5kwh and the whole house was warm, very impressed.

                 

                The unit can be operated remotely using WiFi which is a real bonus for us as we're not at the house the whole time. Previously we just had to guess the storage input setting and it was always on whether it was needed or not! 

                 

                Installed cost was comparable to fitting new quantum storage heaters but I'd still rather have a heating system with real time control and monitoring - plus the fact that the heat pump uses a third of the energy that a direct electric heater uses 👍

                  juliamc
                  Rank 20
                  juliamc
                  Rank 20
                  August 29, 2024

                  It would be great to see a photo of one of your a2a units @Infiltrator . What does it look like from outside ? Do they just have an inlet and an outlet grille on your exterior wall or is there more to it than that ?

                  Show more replies
                  Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement

                  OVO Energy Ltd, Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ, (Company no. 06890795) registered in England and Wales.

                  OVO (S) Gas Limited is registered in England and Wales (Company No. 02716495) at Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ.

                  OVO (S) Gas Limited is part of OVO Group Ltd