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lyeuhm
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lyeuhm
Rank 1
February 27, 2023
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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

Show previous replies
Blastoise186
Super User
Blastoise186Super User
Super User
October 14, 2024

Hi @Mdon2024 ,

If you’ve not been told about a tariff change, you’re probably staying on THTC. You’d know if you were being swapped to a new tariff as you’d have been told about your options while booking the meter exchange.

The new meter will be a Smart Meter because that’s all that’s out there these days. Suppliers are legally required to fit Smart Meters by default now and no stocks or Traditional Meters remain. The engineer will take care of the wiring so that your heating/hot water continues to work though. It’ll be one meter for everything however, making things much, much simpler.

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    M
    Newcomer
    Mdon2024
    Newcomer
    October 14, 2024

    That for replying. So is a single smart meter capable of doing the job of the 2 different meters, separately recording how much regular and heating electricity I am using?

    Blastoise186
    Super User
    Blastoise186Super User
    Super User
    October 14, 2024

    Yup! It can indeed do that.

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      M
      Newcomer
      Mdon2024
      Newcomer
      October 14, 2024

      Also, is it possible to view smart meter readings on the Ovo website to check if they are accurate? At the moment I can view a reading history of estimated and manual readings.

      Blastoise186
      Super User
      Blastoise186Super User
      Super User
      October 14, 2024

      It is, yes. Same as you can now - except they’d be tagged as Smart rather than Manual or Estimated.

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        M
        Newcomer
        Mdon2024
        Newcomer
        October 14, 2024

        OK, thanks for helping.

          Chris_OVO
          Community Manager
          Chris_OVO
          Community Manager
          October 15, 2024

          Hey @Mdon2024,

           

          Amazing to hear that you managed to get booked in so quickly for your meter exchange! @Blastoise186 is correct that your new smart meter will be able to do the task of 2 meters and you can ask the engineer whether they’ll configure the meter or if you need to call and have it done remotely. This is called an ECAUL configuration and it basically means that an extra port on the meter is opened to control any time based heating or tariffs such as economy 7. 

           

          If you have any specific questions about the install and what needs done you can reach out to our Support Team. 

           

          Keep us updated on your progress and if you have any follow up questions! 

          Renewable energy jokes never get old.
            H
            Newcomer
            HuntWalker73
            Newcomer
            January 20, 2025

            My elderly mother live in an old bungalow in the North East of Scotland.

            Prior to having her smart meter installed a few months ago she had two electricity meters.

            One was for the electric panel heaters she uses with which she had total heating total control, the other was for all her other electrical requirements.

            Way back when she got her electric heaters a new electrical socket was put in every room into which she was only allowed to plug in the electric panel heaters for the THTC.

            About 4 months ago she was told by OVO that she had to change to a smart meter. Both her old meters were removed and replaced with a single smart meter.

            At the time we were told that Economy 10 was the best option and that she would still keep her THTC.

            Recently a relative informed us that THTC (24 hour reduced) was not available with a smart meter set up.

            I phoned up OVO today to get some clarity and the first guy I spoke to said we would still have the THTC but he would need to put me through to another department. The second guy I spoke said that we did not have THTC any more and that we would only get the economy rate for the heating during the reduced price hours that come with economy 10.

            Can anyone shed any light on the true situation.

            I have also read that THTC might be coming to smart meters in the future once OVO get the technical aspects sorted out.

             

            Blastoise186
            Super User
            Blastoise186Super User
            Super User
            January 20, 2025

            Hi ​@HuntWalker73 ,

            If THTC isn’t offered to you as part of the migration, chances are it’ll never be available for you - it’s only available to those in Load Managed Areas where it’ll be the ONLY option. That only applies to certain bits of Northern Scotland. Everyone else will be taken off of THTC and migrated to another tariff.

            Long story short, THTC will work on Smart Meters - but only if you’re explicitly offered it. If you get migrated to (or offered) any other tariff, then you’re probably not eligible to keep THTC and there’s no going back to it.

            Worth noting that if you don’t have Storage Heaters and/or Immersion Heaters, THTC is totally not the right tariff for you anyway!

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            Newcomer
            HuntWalker73
            Newcomer
            January 20, 2025

            Hi ​@HuntWalker73 ,

             

            Worth noting that if you don’t have Storage Heaters and/or Immersion Heaters, THTC is totally not the right tariff for you anyway!

            She doesn't have Storage heaters, just electric radiators. Ceramic / clay type

            Show more replies
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