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THTC and RTS shutdown

  • 22 May 2023
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Over the last 6 months I have been carefully following the various Forum threads regarding the (now delayed) RTS shutdown and the consequential loss of the THTC tariff. To date I have had no information directly from SSE (soon to be OVO).  When I called the SSE Specialist Heating Team was I assured by someone  that my supply is not in jeopardy and that a technical solution is awaited to allow a SMART meter installation, but no timescale was given. Nor was there any acknowledgment that the lack of  network coverage in my area (NW Sutherland)  had previously precluded fitting  a SMART meter anyway.

 The main reason for trying to get concrete information revolves around my intention to upgrade my old storage heaters to more energy efficient models which are also controllable remotely. As I understand it the modern heaters work best on Economy 7 or 10 (if available) tariffs which means if I want ultimately to save money, I  need to change from the current  THTC meter. 

Does anyone have any up to date information or is it still a case of wait and hope?

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Best answer by Blastoise186 22 May 2023, 12:36

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Blastoise186
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Hi @ColinC ,

I’ve seen the solution that’s being developed and from my understanding, it’ll be a pretty much drop-in replacement for your current setup once it’s ready, albeit with one meter rather than two. It needs a bit more work yet though.

If the RTS Service shuts down before it’s ready, your THTC Meter will run with a static timeswitch to prevent loss of supply. The difference being that it’ll run using the last known schedule and will no longer be dynamic in when the relays get switched on and off.

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Thanks Blastoise186.

The fact that the RTS might be switched off before a fix is in place still worries me more than a little. Presumably you mean that running as a static time-switch would  mean that the storeage/water  heaters would come on at set Off Peak times rather than variable as with THTC? This would obviously be on a different tariff. My added complication is that the house is a holiday home and not occupied all the time over the winter period to constantly monitor the supply.

Hopefully a solution will be found, but in the meantime a little clarity and up to date information directly from SSE/OVO would not go amiss. Anecdotally, some of my neighbours on THTC are blissfully unaware of any of this.

Blastoise186
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Updated on 24/10/23 by Emmanuelle_OVO

The Radio Teleswich System shutdown is now due April 2024

That’s right, yes. You’d still get the heaters coming on and off if RTS dies, but it would be at fixed times.

All suppliers will contact customers once a solution is ready and this includes OVO. SSE probably won’t be contacting as many people from here though as the original plan had, as the SSE to OVO Migration is progressing at a fast pace. But either way, both yourself and your neighbours will be kept in the loop

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

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