Is there anyone on THTC, without storage heaters, but still with hot water controlled by RTS? What tariff did you switch to with new smart meter ?

It’s not easy to work out what’s the best solution when the 24-hour heating supply goes away. You say most of your usage would be during peak rate hours; space heating is by far the greediest consumer of energy, so it’s usually best to find a setup where most of this is at a cheaper rate.

It’s easy to fit a timer to the water heater so it only heats up during an offpeak period; a typical tank only takes two or three hours to heat up fully from cold, and if it’s reasonably well insulated, it should stay hot for a day or two unless you take lots of deep baths.

‘Electric radiators’ come in a bewildering variety of types, all having different characteristics. Some take a long time to heat up and a long time to cool down, while others heat up as soon as they’re switched on and go cold when they’re switched off. The first sort could work with Economy 9 or 10. The second sort would leave you cold in the mornings and late afternoon, but keep you cosy for a couple of hours after lunch and in the evening unless you find it necessary to run them during peak periods.

You might consider the cost of investing in night-storage heaters again; running them on an Economy 7 tariff could save enough for them to pay for themselves in just a few years. The saving would be less on Economy 9 or 10, so a longer payback period, but the higher comfort level this could give might be worth it. 

All electricity used during offpeak hours is charged at offpeak rates, so using power-hungry equipment (electric cooker, washing machine, tumble dryer, hoover, hairdryer, iron ...) only at these times would save you money, but it would take some organization. You’ll have to do lots of sums to see whether all this would work out cheaper than operating on the Anytime tariff. 

Remember, too, that having a smart meter opens the door to potentially attractive fixed-rate plans, especially if you pay by monthly Direct Debit. You can check all the available plans on this page: Our prices | OVO Energy.

There’s a lot to consider and calculate, so I hope your slide rule’s well oiled 🙂

I am in a similar position to you regarding heating set up and also geographically as I’m just up the A9 in Portmahomack. I started looking at number back in Oct 24 and have used the rates as they have changed with the price cap. The tariffs I looked at at are E10, THTC, Anytime and a Fixed Anytime that was available just before the Oct 24 price cap changes.

I started just doing a few days here and there and from this is seemed that E10 might be the best option But when the Jan 25 price changes came in I have been doing it every day and this shows that in these months (Jan, Feb and Mar) the cheapest tariff is THTC nit surprising given the amount f heating used in these month and it all being available at the cheap rate on THTC.

As THTC will not be available from Jun 25 the next cheapest tariff is the Anytime Fixed Rate. 

The costs I’ve calculated can be seen in the table below.

I haven’t booked an appointment yet but I’m pretty sure I’m going to choose the Anytime option. This gives me access to fixed rate deals both with OVO and with other companies.

I’ve had a timer fitted to my water supply got when I do switch. I’m not expecting there to be any issues withe the water when I do go ahead with the change.

Hi ​@allylang, and a warm welcome to the OVO Forum 😁 I hope you’re well.

Thanks ​@Firedog and ​@awills61 for your helpful responses here. ​@allylang it does sound like going for an Anytime rate will be best for you. If you want to double check, you can check your usage and costs yourself. If you check your reading history first you can work out the kwh split between your peak and off-peak rates by taking reads a year apart. For example:

Peak - 21/03/24 reading 00000 and 21/03/25 reading 3000 = 3000kwh 

Off-peak - 21/03/24 reading 00000 and 21/03/25 reading 2000 = 2000kwh 

You can then multiply the yearly usage by the peak and off-peak unit rates, eg 3000kwh x 0.22 = £660 for the year on the peak rate (0.22 would be if the peak unit rate was 22p/kwh). You can then multiply the final figure by 1.05 to add the 5% VAT.

You can do the same calculation for the off peak, and then add the totals together for the annual cost. If you want to calculate the cost of an Anytime plan, you can add the peak and off peak usage together (2000kwh + 3000kwh = 5000kwh) and then multiply this by the Anytime unit rate, eg 5000kwh x 0.20 = £1000 (x1.05 = £1050 inc VAT).

You might find that it’ll be cheaper to go for economy 10 or 9, however this will limit your options somewhat. If it helps, my mum has just gone from economy 10 to Anytime, and has had her storage heaters removed and has had a new heating system installed so she can use the heating whenever she likes. Whether this will save money over the course of time remains to be seen, but we’re hopeful. I understand your heating is not on the same timings, however this is just to give you an example of how moving to an Anytime tariff gives more freedom as to changing appliances etc.

I just want to link you to some other Forum topics you may find useful, and please do reach out if you have any more questions!

• Radio teleswitch (RTS) shutdown sunset FAQ F.A.Q.

• RTS (Radio Teleswitch Service) Shutdown Update F.A.Q.

Hi  ​@Firedog,  ​@awills61 and Ben_OVO.

Thank you all very much for your quick and helpful responses.  I’m going to consider these over the weekend after further reviewing my overall electricity usage and times of use.

One issue that I’m still a bit uncertain of is my hot water and when it would heat.  My HW tank is in the loft and is wired to a simple On-Off switch that looks like a light switch.  This is permanently switched on and the RTS actually controls when the water heats.  I also have teh original control box in my kitchen - see photo - from which I can override the RTS but only  switching from Timed (i.e. RTS) to Off (so the HW tank never heats).  I can also activate a boost if I run out of hot water.  What I can’t do is choose my own times when the HW tank heats and I would really like to be able to do this. I was a bit worried that choosing Anytime tariff would mean that the hot water would never heat or would heat 24/7. 

 ​@Firedog and ​@awills61 - where you have mentioned adding a timer to the water supply or tank, do you mean the HW tank itself (i.e in my loft) or the control panel that I have in my kitchen?

Ben_OVO - how does your mum now control when her hot water heats?  Did she need to have any additional electrical work done to the HW tank or control panel?

Apologies if these questions seem stupid but I’ve never had to think about these issues before.  

Once again, many thanks for your previous help - it’s good to know that this forum exists and that other people are willing to reach out and share their knowledge with fellow customers.  Much appreciated by me.

My booster is in the utility room and looks like this (see above)

The RTS circuit for my hot water just had what was like a light switch which was permanently on. I’ve had this replaced with a timer (see above)

This is currently set to permanent on so it works like the original switch. When I change meters I can then program it to come in when I want. In the picture you can see that RTS has kicked in as the lights on the switch are on. 
 

Hi, 

I am up in Orkney and in the same position. THTC and storage heaters replaced with panel heaters in bedrooms and air to air heaters everywhere else.  There is no timer on the water tank.  We work shifts and have no schedule - the air to air heaters get put on when it feels cold and up here, it depends on the wind, which is all the time basically!

Booked to get meter switched on 28th March and picked Economy 10 as man on call said it is closest to what we have at present, but given the OP times, I’m not sure it’s going to be very practical for us and perhaps and Anytime tariff would be better?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for the photos ​@awills61 . I also found a vrry useful thread about h heating here.

This answered several questions I had about multi-rate, single rate and 'P2 to P1’ tariff change (thanks Ben_OVO).

​@LAM791 welcome to the OVO Forum 😁

It may be that you’d be better off on an Anytime tariff if you’ve not got anything on a timer. My mum has also just gone from an economy 10 setup to an Anytime plan, and has had electric panel heaters put in. We can’t be completely sure of the savings until we go through the next winter. If you did decide to go an Anytime tariff we can continue to take both sets of reads from your meter but bill the total usage on one flat unit rate. Our Support Team can do this for you, and can also calculate your usage to see whether an Anytime plan will be cheaper - it may or may not be.

This previous post should be helpful - it’s regarding economy 7 but has some useful info:

• Everything you need to know about an Economy 7 (Eco 7) energy plan F.A.Q.