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Getting a SMETS2 smart meter with storage heaters, underfloor heating or other 5th port appliances

  • 25 August 2020
  • 45 replies
  • 15987 views
Getting a SMETS2 smart meter with storage heaters, underfloor heating or other 5th port appliances
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45 replies

P
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Thanks, all!

The only question I still have is whether I could join OVO with my current single rate tariff set-up and be transferred to an E7 tariff after I’ve joined and had the meter upgrade work done? 

Blastoise186
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I’d have to ask Tim to check that.

Usually, you can indeed switch supplier first, do the meter upgrade and then switch to/from Economy 7. However, certain features of OVO’s new billing platform are still in development and support for doing exactly this wasn’t ready the last time I checked.

If possible, it would be safer to get BG to switch you to Economy 7 before switching to OVO. If you come over while already on Economy 7, then OVO can indeed support your setup with E7 running and do the meter upgrade after switching.

Your current metering setup is compatible with E7 and would work for the short period before you can upgrade - but please do NOT allow BG to attempt another meter exchange. They’ll probably only choke again if they retry.

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Tim_OVO
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Yep, @Blastoise186 you’re spot on. I’ve checked for an update this morning. @philearp the billing platform will have this functionality added later on in the year. It doesn’t at the moment. 

 

For now, I would advise that you explore once more what your options are with British Gas visiting to fit those isolation switches, fitting a 5 port smart meter (SMETS2) and requesting that this gets changed to an eco-7 tariff. Or if British Gas really can’t help you with a 5 port meter, reach out to another supplier that is able to do this work and change you to a 5 port smart meter and an economy 7 tariff. You will always have the option of choosing OVO or another supplier at a later date with a SMETS2 smart meter. I’m sorry that for technical platform reasons, we can’t currently offer that 2-rate economy 7 tariff change after you’re on supply with us.

 

Hope this helps, please message here with any updates or follow up questions. It will be helpful for anyone else in a similar position as you!  

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T
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Although I’m not an Ovo customer I have found very little help on this subject and I was hoping someone could give me some advice...

When I was with Pure Planet they arranged for the 4 port SMETS2 smart meter to be fitted. We have 3 zones of dry/electric underfloor heating on the ground floor and when we got to data access to our power usage from our new supplier we were shocked to see that the meter was claiming we were using nearly 40kWh of electricty per day. When I turned off all 3 underfloor heating zones off, our usage instantly went to about 9.5kWh per day. Reading this thread, is it the case that we had the wrong type of meter installed and that we should have the 5 port instead?

 

tt.

Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

Hi @tintin_uk and welcome to the OVO online community,

 

So great to hear you’ve already found our content helpful. Just to clarify the 5 port meters mentioned in the guide above may only be required for certain underfloor heating set-ups. So if your heating has still been operational since getting a 4 port meter installed, I suspect a 5 port meter wasn’t needed in your case.

 

Often 5 port smart meters are installed for customers on a dual-rate plan, such as Economy 7, which allows storage heaters to use energy at cheaper rates overnight. Again this might not be appropriate for your heating set-up. Have you been monitoring your usage using your smart meter In-Home Display? This can really help identify and reduce your usage peaks.

 

Hope this information helps.

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T
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Thanks for your reply.

The crazy thing about the smart meter display is that it was pretty much in the green/low usage when the UFH was active except when say, we had the washing machine and/or dishwasher running and then it would maybe creep a little into amber. Not once did I see it go well into the amber or anywhere near red levels. That’s why we didn’t realise we had a problem until I installed my providers app on my phone which gives a lot more granular data on daily and weekly usage.

It just doesn’t seem feasible for 2 people in a 3 bed house to consume that quantity of electricity.

Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

How interesting, @tintin_uk.

 

It sounds like the daily budget settings for your IHD may be set a little high in that case. Sure our resident IHD expert, @Blastoise186, would be happy to help work out how to adjust those if you let him know which type of IHD you’ve got there. If you’re not sure you could always post a photo here as he’s a whizz at identifying them too. 😉

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T
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Really apprciate the help. More than I’m getting from my current suplplier.

This is the display we have (sorry about the reflections):

 

Blastoise186
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A Geo Trio II Touchbutton has been detected. You can find the budget settings in the menu.

I always forget exactly where it is in the menu for the Geo IHDs, but no doubt @kevinmcintyre09 can give me a reminder. :)

However, I get the feeling it’s Home Button > Settings > Budget.

Now if only Geo would send me one of their Wi-Fi clippy gadgets for free for erm… “Testing”... I know a place where I could definitely make use of it...

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Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

Ah great IHD-identifying there, @Blastoise186.

 

I wonder if our Geo IHD guide might have the information you’re after, @tintin_uk?
 

 

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K
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Userlevel 2

A Geo Trio II Touchbutton has been detected. You can find the budget settings in the menu.

I always forget exactly where it is in the menu for the Geo IHDs, but no doubt @kevinmcintyre09 can give me a reminder. :)

However, I get the feeling it’s Home Button > Settings > Budget.

Now if only Geo would send me one of their Wi-Fi clippy gadgets for free for erm… “Testing”... I know a place where I could definitely make use of it...

Sorry missed this one. Yes the budget setting is spot on

K
Rank
Userlevel 2

A Geo Trio II Touchbutton has been detected. You can find the budget settings in the menu.

I always forget exactly where it is in the menu for the Geo IHDs, but no doubt @kevinmcintyre09 can give me a reminder. :)

However, I get the feeling it’s Home Button > Settings > Budget.

Now if only Geo would send me one of their Wi-Fi clippy gadgets for free for erm… “Testing”... I know a place where I could definitely make use of it...

@tintin_uk 

Hi Tintin, the dial on your Trio has thresholds which receive the set-up from the smart meter. So it is possible with your set up, that they increased the threshold of green/amber to reflect the higher usage of kW in your home (from the underfloor heating).

 

On the new versions of firmware (which I believe we had with pureplanet), there should be a setting to change this. Press Home button (menu) > Settings > Advanced. The second item in the list if you are on the newer firmware will be Usage levels. You can choose from low, medium or high, or meter for the default meter settings. 

 

The link below is a video showing how to change it

https://touchbutton.support.geotogether.com/en/support/solutions/articles/7000063197-trio-touchbutton-usage-levels

 

And the table is the values (this is from our user guide) -https://touchbutton.support.geotogether.com/en/support/solutions/articles/7000050712-trio-touchbutton-user-manual

 

 

Y
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I have just moved into a property with night storage heaters , economy 7 and a RTS meter, which I have now found out will cease to operate from March 2024. My understanding is that I need a 5 terminal ACLS smart meter which can turn a second circuit on and off like my storage heaters .  Currently the RTS meter is switching my night storage heaters on at off peak times.I have contacted my current supplier and they don’t seem to understand. I thought all suppliers had to ensure a smooth transition and functional meter after the RTS shutdown. Current supplier is Eon ?

 

Blastoise186
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Hey @Yaffle ,

You just need a Five-Terminal Smart Meter actually. OVO is pretty experienced with these and as a forum volunteer here, so am I.

If you wanted to get this sorted out you could consider switching to OVO via https://switch.ovoenergy.com . If you use this link, I won’t get commission or kickback and it’s the same one you’d find on OVO’s homepage and via Google.

Once you’re set up, you’d be able to use https://smart-booking.ovoenergy.com to get it all arranged. Make sure to select the option that you have Economy 7!

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M
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Userlevel 2

Also currently on a 2 meter set up with one for daytime and the other an RTS controlled meter for THTC.   Currently we can’t have smart meters here, so what happens if RTS is switched off before we can?

 

Also with THTC you get a couple of spells of your water being heated during the day at the cheaper rate. Obviously only heating it at night during Economy 7 hours would be hopeless as you would very quickly run out of hot water and have to boost it at daytime rates?

Blastoise186
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OVO is working on THTC support with Smart Meters.

If the RTS Signal gets nuked in the meantime, the meters you have now will continue to function using the failsafe/fallback local timeswitches.

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S
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Hi, First time on this forum and not currently an OVO customer but this thread looks very useful to me and I could be switching.

 I’ve got no gas to my house so use old storage heaters and a wood burning stove as top up for heating. I also have a small 12 year old PV setup where I get paid for generation and deemed export through it’s own meter.  I am on Eco 7 with Octopus on two old meters, no smart meter yet. I want to get an EV charging point and make use of the cheap nighttime tariffs but also need to keep the storage heaters on a timed supply to avoid them being on during the day on high tariff.
 

I think I need a 5 terminal smart meter for all this.?? My real question is will I be able to access the full range of smart meter tariffs on the 5th terminal or will I only be able to be on Eco7/for the whole meter? Would I be better off getting a standard smart meter and then installing my own time switch inside the house to turn on the storage heaters? That would have to be a meaty switch as there’s a sizeable current when the storage heaters are on. Thanks

Blastoise186
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Howdy @SteveBoxted !

You’ll be able to access pretty much any tariff with a 5-Terminal Smart Meter, not just E7 tariffs and you’ll need one in your case. I’d recommend using that to do the timeswitching stuff rather than using your own timeswitch - this is the only way to ensure that you don’t accidentally get charged the wrong rate.

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S
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Hi ​​​@Tim_OVO ,

Im currently with a different supplier on a restricted meter (ComfortPlus White). My current storage heater setup and wiring would be compatible with the 5 terminal smart meter and I am looking to change electricity provider to OVO (as I heard a lot of good things). With the RTS switch off, I am worried that I will be left on my expensive standard rate at my current supplier if I don’t move or change meters.

 

Could you please advise me if this meter is still available and how I could switch to OVO (even if it means I would be on a standard tariff for a few weeks initially)? I tried to call but after a few transfers I got disconnected.

Blastoise186
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Howdy @Selim !

Forum Volunteer here. Could you show us some snaps of the meter real quick? It just helps us to understand things a bit better. However, OVO does indeed offer 5-Terminal SMETS2 Smart Meters and has full support for them.

If you’d rather just go ahead and change supplier directly, try https://switch.ovoenergy.com . If you use this exact link, I won’t get commission or kickback and it’s the same one you’d find on Google.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!

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