Can I have a smart meter with an Economy 7 plan?

Yep @Megha I will be advised internally when this functionality is re-introduced, so I will update this topic when I do. 

However I can’t give a timeframe on this. Hopefully very soon as I know you won’t be the last member that will want this change!

Hi @Greame and welcome to the Forum. Please be aware that you’re corresponding here with fellow energy consumers. These pages are hosted by OVO, but “we” don’t represent the company!

Nevertheless, I can probably answer this question.

There are two possible answers, depending on what you mean by Jule.

Joule = SI unit of Energy. Yes, all SMETS2 Meters record energy, but this is usually shown as kWh rather than joules.

Dual = a meter with two tariff capability. Yes, all SMETS2 Meters must support at least four different tariff rates.

But please note that the multi-tariff capability is unlikely to be the way forward for domestic energy consumption in the UK. We are gradually moving towards Time of Use tariffs, which divide each day into 48 half-hour periods.

Please post again if you’d like clarification, or to discuss these options further.

I have been with Ovo for some years and will shortly be moving home.  The ‘new’ property has oil heating so I will only require power (at least until I can manage to get gas and a new boiler installed).  The existing meter is a standard dual rate meter.  Not sure why they had Economy 7, maybe because it has electric pool heating.

Q1 - When I move I assume the existing contract will be terminated and I will need a new one?

Q2 - is it possible to to have a dual rate smart meter fitted for the dual rate power?

Q3 - What happens when I get gas installed (probably a year down the line), is it easy to get a smart gas meter added?

Q4 - Is it difficult if I decide to switch from dual rate power metering to single rate?

Q5 - Where can you find the dual rate unit costs on the Ovo website?

Apologies for all the questions but I could not find the current information.

Hey there @TWSaab !

Ooh, some really good questions here! I like your style. :)

Would you be able to share some photos of those meters by any chance? It might make it a bit easier to figure out your options, especially if we’re able to see exactly how it’s all set up right now. In the meantime, I’ll try to answer your questions as best I can for now.

Q1 - When I move I assume the existing contract will be terminated and I will need a new one?

Yup, that’s right. You’ll want to trigger the Moving Home process from within MyOVO to terminate your existing contract at the old place. This will allow you to notify OVO as to when you’re moving out and will waive any early exit fees. You’ll also be able to tell OVO where you’re moving to, so that the Final Bill can be sent to the new place. All you then have to do is pay that off and you’re done with the existing account. Obviously, if you’ve got enough account credit to swallow the entire Final Bill anyway, it will be marked as paid automatically and you’ll get any spare credit back afterwards.

At the new place, simply sign up with OVO via the Quote & Switch tool and you can get the ball rolling. If the current supplier at the new place is not OVO however, you’ll need to sign up with the current supplier first on their Standard Variable Tariff, just to get things up and running - and so that you have control over the supply. You can then initiate a switch to OVO within 24 hours after that.

Q2 - is it possible to to have a dual rate smart meter fitted for the dual rate power?

Yup. If the existing meters are Economy 7, then the default position is that any Smart Meter  that replaces them would also be configured for Economy 7 on a like-for-like basis.

Q3 - What happens when I get gas installed (probably a year down the line), is it easy to get a smart gas meter added?

Yes, that’s possible. However, I would recommend against setting up a gas supply at the new place if there isn’t already one available. Not least because it’s nowhere near as easy as you might think (especially if there’s no gas main nearby!), but also because gas is being kinda phased out over time. The future is electric anyway, so I’d recommend considering options that don’t involve gas if possible.

However, assuming you do manage to somehow get a gas supply to the property, then yes you can have a Gas Smart Meter fitted. It might not be fitted initially, but upgrading is easy enough and OVO would be able to arrange the upgrade for you (as long as OVO is your gas supplier).

Q4 - Is it difficult if I decide to switch from dual rate power metering to single rate?

Generally not too hard. OVO’s new billing platform can’t handle this just yet, but it’s an upcoming feature. So once the billing platform can support this feature (no doubt you’ll see updates on the forum when it does!), yup. Piece of cake. You’d just need to discuss that with the Support Team and they can take a look.

Q5 - Where can you find the dual rate unit costs on the Ovo website?

These are generated via the Quote & Switch tool, as long as you select the Economy 7 option during the process. I can’t provide a generic list because there’s too many variables and it changes too often. I’d never keep up! 

Other notes:

Yeah, that sounds like an RTS Meter to me, possibly configured for Economy 7 but we can try to identify it from any photos you’ve got. I’d say a Five-Terminal SMETS2 Smart Meter like the Aclara SGM1416-B (or Aclara SGM1433-B if you’re on Three-Phase) should do the trick nicely. These two models have full support for the type of setup that I think you’re describing. Either way, Economy 7 applies to the entire supply, not just parts of it.

With the way that E7 works, ALL of your usage during the cheap seven hours is thrown onto the Night rate, not just certain parts of it. Likewise, ALL of your usage outside of the cheap seven hours is thrown onto the expensive Day/Standard rate. However, it can indeed be possible to have certain stuff wired up so that it only operates during the cheap hours. Chances are that’s already been done in your case by the sounds of things. This would remain the case even with a Smart Meter.

There is also the ability to use the Boost function in most cases. You can usually activate it either via the meter itself or in some cases via the IHD. Please note that using the Boost function outside the cheap hours will cause whatever load is being managed to run at the expensive Day rates, so you’ll want to be careful about how you use it.

Hope this helps!

BBCode doesn’t work here I’m afraid, but you can upload the images directly. This forum is a bit more fancy than most! XD

Not to worry, I can summon a ModAssist from @Jess_OVO to fix that, on the house. We can get those BBCode tags switched out with the actual images for you if you’d like us to. :)

In the meantime, I’ve had a look at the images and yep. This seems like a fairly bog standard Economy 7 setup. Possibly even one of the least complicated ones we’ve ever seen! It also appears that EDF was the installing supplier for that setup, but you might want to ask the current householder, landlord or estate agent as to who the current supplier is.

And yup, the entire house would be on E7 for tariff purposes, but only the stuff on the off-peak circuits would be controlled by the meter.

You won’t need any special timers or anything with the setup you have here. As long as everything you only want to have running during the cheap hours is already wired up to the off-peak circuits, then you’re all set as it will only function during the cheap hours. Chances are it might already be that way, but no harm in asking around to make sure! If needed, a friendly local electrician will be happy to stop by and trace the circuits for you (and even do rewiring if needed).

As long as the way it’s all currently set up is how you want it, then a Smart Meter will replicate it in exactly the same way. You're bang on there. If you want to add more stuff to be controlled the same way, I’d recommend having it hooked up to the same off-peak circuits, since that will allow you to have all of it controlled from one place. It makes life easier (and I’d say that pool heater is a perfect candidate for being handled this way). You’re welcome to use alternative timers though if you’d like - just make sure they’re set up properly and you should be good.

Great to see you’ve managed to re-size the photo of your set-up to allow you to post it here, @TWSaab.

It does look like quite a complex arrangement - Looking at the three black fuses at the bottom right of the meter board I’m guessing you’ve got a three phase set-up. Although I’m sure our community expert, @Transparent - will be ready to correct me if not!

As we’re not currently installing 3 phase smart meters, this might not be as easy a smart upgrade as usual. If you’re not using all three phases you could consider down-grading the supply to a single phase which would allow for a smart meter installation (to which a gas smart meter could certainly be added at a later point). We’d also be able to offer a 5-port smart meter which would allow for one circuit (ie. the pool heaters) to be controlled by the time-switch on the meter.

Have you contacted an electrician yet about replacing the consumer unit? 

By the looks of things, I think that Radio Teleswitch might not have a Boost button equipped. It seems to be one of those Horstmann manufactured units from the 1980’s or so. The electric meter itself appears to be an Ampy (unknown model) Multi-Rate Single Phase Watt Hour Meter. A bit like the Ampy 5325A, but I suspect it might be an Ampy 5235D instead.

As such, a Boost facility is probably unsupported with the current setup. A smart meter should be capable though. We can definitely do some research if you’d like us to. I’ve actually got the user manual for the Aclara SGM1400 Series meters within easy reach. Should only take a few hours to shoot through that again. :P

Let’s just say that Samurott has a seriously overpowered display that means I can just about make this stuff out in GIMP! XD

Oh, and teaching Tim and Jess how to make use of tools like GIMP is something that’s on the list of things we’re working on. A few forum volunteers are helping with that. :D

I have a key meter which is on economy 7. I have dimplex storage heaters. I have previously had a pay as you go smart meter which stopped my heating and hot water working due to not being able to work with economy 7. Now the problem is that the radio teleswitch signal is due to be switched off in 2025 and i have been informed by OVO I will have to get a new meter. I am on a tight budget and do require the pay as you go meter. I am very concerned that because of the lack of signal in my area as well for smart meters I am going to be forced into paying an estimated bill by direct debit card also loosing the cheap night rate of economy 7. 
 

Can anyone please advise me?

Thanks for your reply. What I want to know is can I stay on pay as you go when the meter is replay?