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Rank 2
December 8, 2024
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Is my PAYG meter impacted by the RTS shutdown?

  • December 8, 2024
  • 48 replies
  • 1618 views

We are all electric and on THTC, or so we believe, we moved here in March 2021 and we have been trying to switch since we moved in, due to our apparent meter type we were with SSE then switched over to OVO. Currently going through energy ombusman to get a different meter/tarriff, due to living in the countryside we have to travel to a shop and due to weather it is not always possible and being pay as you go its not sustainable and we were told absolutely no way can we get a different meter and we would just have to wait until the RTS shuts down and hopefully we can get a smart meter(apparently this is not possible at the moment due to signal, yet others on our street have smart meters)OVO have argued that we are on a THTC tarriff..but the rates he gave me dont match the rates on our actual meter, each rate on our meter being 1pence more per kw. We have been told by someone, that our meter is infact an economy 7/10 meter. I cant seem to see the RTS box or the second meter they are claiming we have? We have one meter with 2 rates but that is all. Attached are photos of our electricity cupboard. Can anyone shed some light on what type of meter this is as seem to be passed from pillar to post! 

Best answer by Lukepeniket_OVO

Updated on 26/08/26 by Abby_OVO

 

Lukepeniket_OVO wrote:

‘I've got it. I've checked with paygo teams. You are THTC setup. You have a 24hr domestic supply and 24hr heating supply which is why everything is on all the time.

 

Your 24hr heating rate is slightly lower than the 24hr domestic supply but not by a lot. 

 

In terms of what needs to happen I'm unsure as to what to advise you. You have storage heaters which would benefit from an off peak supply. Your current tariff code is 145. I believe you should move to an off peak supply but you would need to liaise with OVO CS to decide the best tariff for yourself.

 

In short;

You have storage heaters

You have a THTC setup’.

 

@Vreid92. Very unlikely to be a THTC setup as there is only 1 meter. 

There is many Economy setups, E7, E8 E9 E10 and Evening weekend. I doubt itll be E/W but im unsure of what it could be at all. this should be relevant on your online account. 

E7 times would be 0000-0700 (Ish)
E10 is multiple times throughout the day, 0000-0500, 1400-1700 (Unsure) and 2000-2200.

 

I dont know the timings for the other systems.

I would have to have a look at any consumer units and heaters you have to advise you on how to use them.

Hope this helps??

 

48 replies

Vreid92Author
Rank 2
December 12, 2024

Something amok. 

 

Can you attach photos here of 1 of your heaters and your consumer unit (fuse board) connected to the far right hand cable??

 

Vreid92Author
Rank 2
December 12, 2024

Something amok. 

 

Can you attach photos here of 1 of your heaters and your consumer unit (fuse board) connected to the far right hand cable??

 

Vreid92Author
Rank 2
December 12, 2024

Something amok. 

 

Can you attach photos here of 1 of your heaters and your consumer unit (fuse board) connected to the far right hand cable??

I think this is the fuse board you mean?

OVO Engineer
December 12, 2024

https://assets.cef.co.uk/downloads/pdg/dimplex_quantumg6_instructions/dimplex_quantumg6_instructions.pdf

 

 

There should be two switches near the heater, one is off peak one is on peak. The 24hour supply should be connected to your boost switch and the other should only be lit when the off pean supply is energised at appropriate times. This is where we need to find your timings.

 

Is your meters screen blank? I can't see any figures on the pic provided?  There should be screens also detailing rate 1 and rate 2 unit price.

 

I believe h is rate 1 reading with I being the rate, J is rate 2 reading with K being the rate? Sorry for being rusty it has been a while since I've read a 2 rate read (not out installing as much any more).

 

Can you see these rates?

OVO Operations Excellence Manager and Former Field Operations Team Leader
OVO Engineer
December 12, 2024

@Vreid92 yeah that photo is lovely, shows me the fuseboard with both off peak and on peak circuits.

 

Only the heaters on the right hand part of this board will be being controlled by the off peak supply!!

 

On the left hand side of the fuseboard the ones marked 'Panel' are heaters without a off peak supply and thus always on!

 

To maximise efficiency I would turn all 'boosts' and panels off of the wall and only utilise them when you need to top up the heat in the property.

 

You will need to experiment with the water tank but you should make the most of the hot water tank by heating it up using the off peak supply, the off peak heater can be identified on the tank by looking for the cable which goes to the lowest part of the tank, that cable will be connected to a switch on the wall which you should leave on. I'd turn the other switch off and experiment to see if the hot water the next day is hot enough for you to use.

 

Appreciate its a lot of info but if everything is on all the time it beats the point of having an off peak supply

OVO Operations Excellence Manager and Former Field Operations Team Leader
Vreid92Author
Rank 2
December 12, 2024

https://assets.cef.co.uk/downloads/pdg/dimplex_quantumg6_instructions/dimplex_quantumg6_instructions.pdf

 

 

There should be two switches near the heater, one is off peak one is on peak. The 24hour supply should be connected to your boost switch and the other should only be lit when the off pean supply is energised at appropriate times. This is where we need to find your timings.

 

Is your meters screen blank? I can't see any figures on the pic provided?  There should be screens also detailing rate 1 and rate 2 unit price.

 

I believe h is rate 1 reading with I being the rate, J is rate 2 reading with K being the rate? Sorry for being rusty it has been a while since I've read a 2 rate read (not out installing as much any more).

 

Can you see these rates?

There are 2 switches next to the big heaters, one is off peak and one is boost, for the heater to work both need to be switched on, which they are, I was told also that the off peak should only be lit when charging, which isnt the case, its on all the time. 

 

On my meter I have 

A -£7.63

C- Time

D - Date

E-£29798 (total)

F - £4.42 weekly charge

Y - 70247.39

Z- 02330.38

H- 70247.41 Rate 1

I - 25.43 pence Rate 1

J - 00000.00 Rate 2

K- 0.00 Rate 2

L - 00000.00 Rate 3

M- 0.00 Rate 3

N - 02330.38 Rate 4

O- 21.32 Rate 4

P - 00000.00 Rate 5

Q - 0.00 Rate 5

R - £30 E.C

S & T are just debt but are at 0.00

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

Vreid92Author
Rank 2
December 12, 2024

@Vreid92 yeah that photo is lovely, shows me the fuseboard with both off peak and on peak circuits.

 

Only the heaters on the right hand part of this board will be being controlled by the off peak supply!!

 

On the left hand side of the fuseboard the ones marked 'Panel' are heaters without a off peak supply and thus always on!

 

To maximise efficiency I would turn all 'boosts' and panels off of the wall and only utilise them when you need to top up the heat in the property.

 

You will need to experiment with the water tank but you should make the most of the hot water tank by heating it up using the off peak supply, the off peak heater can be identified on the tank by looking for the cable which goes to the lowest part of the tank, that cable will be connected to a switch on the wall which you should leave on. I'd turn the other switch off and experiment to see if the hot water the next day is hot enough for you to use.

 

Appreciate its a lot of info but if everything is on all the time it beats the point of having an off peak supply

I was told by dimplex that the panel heaters, bathroom heater and water immersion are all on 24 off peak supply? So any heat will be charged at off peak price regardless? My panel heaters are in the 3 bedrooms and are only on for a few hours before we go to bed and for a couple of hours before we get up in the morning to warm the bedrooms up. Same with the livingroom, kitchen and bathroom, few hours morning and night. I have two of the bigger heaters in my hall ways, upstairs and down and they were only on for a few hours in the evenings. My water heater only has one switch and a boost switch. It doesnt have a timer or anything for setting. But in the summer when no heating is on, the water heater doesnt use hardly any electric atall funnily enough. Its quite a small tank(especially for a 3 bed house with 4 people living in it) lucky to get 2 baths.

If the boosts and off peak switches are off at the wall then when i do turn them on will it not use peak energy because they havent charged during off peak time? Our house is very cold, our windows are absolutely shocking and due to it being council, they arent in a hurry to do anything. The drafts are unreal so the heating really needs to be on at the time i set them. The guy from dimplex said to have them all set to be on roughly as the same time, otherwise if say for instance the kitchen one is set to be off, but the livingroom in, the minute you open the door to the kitchen the cold draft comes into the livingroom. 

 

 

I have noticed that my off peak count on my heaters sits quite high, but my actual count is quite low. So maybe its charging in winter on the off peak times which could be anything from 5-12 hours and im only using my heaters for 4-5 hours each per day. This is why i thought if i set my heaters charge times to only charge for say 6-7 hours. Them maybe it would use far less, but with THTC you dont know when the off peak times are so its impossible to set. If it even is THTC. 

Iv spend the last 3 and a half years since moving here going round and round in circles, phoning dimplex, phoning other people for advice, asking OVO to have an electrician to come out to look at the wiring etc(they refused) and seem to be getting nowhere. 

Vreid92Author
Rank 2
December 12, 2024

 

Appreciate its a lot of info but if everything is on all the time it beats the point of having an off peak supply

 

The boost switches on the heaters need to be on along with the off peak switches otherwise they heaters wont turn on. 

 

Vreid92Author
Rank 2
December 12, 2024

Just did a bit of investigating..Surely that shouldnt be left like that too?

OVO Engineer
December 12, 2024

Likely to be old cables chopped off and left in the wall when the new fuseboard was done. 

 

I'll get back to you tomorrow hopefully with some tariff information

OVO Operations Excellence Manager and Former Field Operations Team Leader