RTS Switch off and Smart Meters

Hi @awills61 ,

Please post photos of your meters and tell us what meter/tariff type you’re currently on. Forum volunteers like myself can either answer this directly, or reach for our resources that may provide the answer.

But the short answer is that OVO is working extremely hard on getting a solution up - and some support for upgrading RTS is already available, especially for those on Economy 7 (which is very well supported!).

I’ve just been migrated and my energy plan shows as ‘Simpler Energy - THTC’ my set up is attached.

Thank you. Not sure if static on or off is better. I’ve changed my storage heaters for panel heaters so they run of the 24 hr circuit and should be ok whatever the last known switching is.  For water we have a booster on the 24hr circuit which we could use if the last switch was off. 

The behaviour you see now will stay the same - it just won’t be random anymore :)

Ahh Ok. I misunderstood thought you meant it would be permanently on or permanently off. 

Hi, I’ve got THC with both storage heaters (controlled by RTS) and panel heaters (manually controlled and on a low rate 24/7) I’m thinking of replacing the storage heaters with conventional radiators like you have done. Did you need to get a meter engineer to wire in the radiators to the 24/7 low rate circuit or can an electrician do this?

Hi @ColinRG ,

If you’re doing that then I’m afraid THTC would technically no longer be suitable and you’d probably lose your eligibility for it. Either way, it’d probably cost you more than you’d save.

Might wanna consider coming off of THTC completely if you’re getting rid of all storage heaters.

Let us know what you decide @ColinRG. Your advice could be helpful to other members in a similar position. 

We have a guide that you might find useful:

• Complex Multi-Rate Meter & Heating types F.A.Q.

When I emailed OVO about the THTC situation I was more or less told I could request a smart meter right now.  Like a lot of emails form OVO the tone was such that you knew ‘John’ wasn’t really their name.  I emailed again, pointing out this page of their website:

https://www.ovoenergy.com/can-i-get-a-smart-meter
which says "If you have a meter in your home that relies on the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) service we can’t offer you a smart meter just yet, but we're working very hard to enable this for our customers."

The reply seems to come from someone who knows of what they speak:

“The information you found on our website about OVO not being able to offer a smart meter to customers with THTC meters is indeed correct. At the moment we're unable to offer smart meters that are compatible with customers who have complex meter type or a multi rate meter but we're working very hard to be able to offer this upgrade and the moment we can offer it, all customers would be contacted to inform them.

With regards to your concern about the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS), this service/signal has been confirmed by OVO to end by mid 2025 for our customers and no customer whose meter relies on RTS will be shutdown before then.

I sincerely apologise that we're unable to offer you a smart meter at the moment for your THTC meter but we're working hard towards it and we might be able to offer this service from June this year.

Be rest assured that the RTS wouldn't be shutdown before mid 2025 and also, the moment we can offer you a smart meter, we'll contact you.

I'm sorry for any misunderstanding or confusion this matter might have caused and I hope I've been able to explain it better to you.”

The above advice is correct I’m afraid @andykelp but we’ll update these topics when we get more information and updates. 

I live in a listed house, with economy 10 storage heaters. Unfortunately because it was two cottages 30yrs ago, it has two meters, so I already pay double standing charge rates! I am investigating rewiring some of the house so it just runs of one meter. Although it is in Sussex, there is no phone line, and no mobile signal from any of the networks. This does not seem likely to change in the near future. Ovo have told me that the house is not suitable for a smart meter in the past, so what am I going to do when the RTS switch off comes? It seems from various newspaper articles that there are about 700000 homes in the Uk with the same problem. I do have starlink, but I understand this is not suitable/reliable enough to run a smart meter. Any suggestions please, I had enough nightmares when I moved here with metering problems and getting the account set up with OVO. I still can’t send in meter readings online or in the app, and have to call every month with them. This has meant I have overpaid by £2000 this first year. It still costs £3000 p/a on economy 10 to run a house with 3 storage heaters and minimal usage!!! Our main source of heat is our logburner. Because the house is timber framed, with brick infill, 500 yrs old, I can’t put in a normal heating system and radiators. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Hi ​@directorhownhall ,

Really sorry to be a pain but I think I need to sleep on this one overnight. Are you OK if I come back to you in the morning? Others might still reply in the meantime though!

Yes please. It’s a bit of a complicated one! The main problem is if we can’t have a smart meter, what do we replace the current system with when the radio signal is turned off. Let alone finding an electrician who is capable of understanding the problem and fixing it our end with the set up. The joys of old houses and inheriting the work previously done. Than you in advance for any advice, trying to learn and get my head round the terminology as best I can!

You’re not alone in being in one of the places the smart meter network (the WAN) doesn’t reach. This is a common problem in, for example, rural areas in Scotland, where there are many RTS customers. OVO have devised a solution for these customers which requires you to decide which of the available options you’d prefer (e.g. single-rate, Economy 7 or Economy 10). The smart meter would then be pre-configured for the plan you want. You’d have to submit readings manually, e.g. once a month to ensure accurate billing. 

The wiring for the two parts of the property would have to be combined if it’s to have a single metered supply. That may not be as complicated as it sounds, unless some of it isn’t ‘up-to-code’, in which case an electrician may be bound to upgrade it. 

Workarounds for the lack of a mobile signal are being developed and deployed experimentally; it may be possible at some indeterminate date in the future to connect the meter to the WAN via your Starlink Internet connection, once the security concerns have been addressed. 

Sussex isn’t particularly sparsely populated; do you have neighbours within a couple of miles who may be more fortunate than you communications-wise? There is a way for a smart meter not on the WAN to communicate via another one that is, a so-called mesh arrangement.

Because the RTS signal is due to be switched off this summer, you really have no time to lose to get this all sorted out in time - there’s no knowing what will happen when RTS dies. Let us know what hurdles you’re facing; we may be able to make suggestions to surmount them.