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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
  • 8052 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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Abby_OVO
Community Manager
Abby_OVO
Community Manager
March 12, 2024

Hey @amygw 

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

OVO is working on a solution for replacing THTC meters but this is not in place yet, the support team will let you know if they can offer a meter exchange at this point. Once we do have the replacements in place, you’ll lose the complicated mess of wiring between several meters and go onto a single Smart Meter once the upgrade is done.

 

We’ve got lots of other topic on THTC setups that may also be helpful to you:

 

 

We know it’s not the easiest situation to navigate while we’re unsure of a timeframe on the replacements, but as soon as we do know more, we’ll be updating all related threads.

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amygw
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March 12, 2024

Hi @Abby_OVO 

Thank you for your reply. I don’t necessarily mind waiting for the new arrangements to be made, but I’m not happy with the tariff that I was put on as it seems to be at a single rate? Could you provide clarity about it and what other options there might be?

Abby_OVO
Community Manager
Abby_OVO
Community Manager
March 13, 2024

Hey @amygw 

 

Replacements are being actively worked on at the moment. When we have any more information on what these will look like and how they’ll work for our customers, we’ll update any related Forum topics.🙂

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amygw
Newcomer
March 14, 2024

Hi @Abby_OVO 

I’m not sure this answers my question- can you provide any information about the Simpler Energy tariff? Is it intended for storage heaters? Is it a dual rate tariff? I was not given any information about it when I was moved on to it against my requests to stay on THTC (which made sense for my installation). 

Blastoise186
Super User
Blastoise186Super User
Super User
March 14, 2024

Simpler Energy is basically the name of OVO’s Standard Variable Tariff. It can do both Flat Rate and Economy 7 versions, but doesn’t support stuff like THTC which have dedicated tariffs. It can, however, support both Single-Phase and Polyphase just fine in both Flat Rate and E7 configurations.

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    amygw
    Newcomer
    March 14, 2024

    @Blastoise186 Thank you, that’s very interesting. The fifth terminal seems to be switching correctly (00:00-07:00 ish), but it is very unclear if those ‘offpeak hours’ have a different chargeable rate. Our bill shows no indication, and the meter only generates one reading  - how would you know if it’s charging flat rate or E7?

    Blastoise186
    Super User
    Blastoise186Super User
    Super User
    March 14, 2024

    The off-peak rate is only charged during those hours. If you’re set up with Economy 7, you’d see a Day and Night OR Peak and Off-Peak rate on the unit rates listed on bills as well as the same for meter readings.

    If you’re on Flat Rate, you MIGHT still see Day/Night meter readings, but the bills would only show a single unit rate.

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      amygw
      Newcomer
      March 14, 2024

      @Blastoise186 So, is that a hardware configuration issue or a billing issue? I was told that my smart meter was not fully commissioned as it would likely have unintended impact on aspects of my heating (maybe the hot water/on demand heating) in its current configuration? 

      Blastoise186
      Super User
      Blastoise186Super User
      Super User
      March 14, 2024

      There’s an easy way to check the hardware at least. Run it through https://homebrew.n3rgy.com and let me know if there’s any warnings or errors.

      Please don’t reveal personal info like your address or MPAN/MPRN

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      amygw
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      March 14, 2024

      @Blastoise186 Apologies, I am just getting 

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