RTS switch over, Perthshire

Keep us posted ​@kbrown36 !

Thoughts and prayers!

Did you decide to go with Economy 10, or to stick with your original choice of Economy 9? Please let us know afterwards how it all went.

Decided to go with Economy 10 which meant cancelling original appointment but actually meant our appointment is now a week sooner than it was going to be. 

Nice. I’ve just gotta warn you about something and it’s kinda important.

Once the install is done, there’ll be no undo button and no going back. Downgrades have never really been supported and given you’re upgrading from RTS THTC → Smart, you definitely won’t be able to go back to RTS and the old equipment will likely be destroyed upon return.

We’ll be here if you need us of course, but I felt it was worth letting you know.

Given RTS is getting switched off it was going to have to happen at some point.  At least this way I will hopefully get some visibility over what is going on and it should open up options to go with other suppliers in future. House is a rental and yes we have written permission from landlord to change meter, longer term they may need to upgrade the heaters themselves but that will be their call 

And their cost. :)

After all, it doesn’t make much sense for you to pay for the heaters if you then leave six months later...

So the update (or lack thereof) is that despite having an appointment slot from 2pm today no one has arrived and there has been no contact, can't say I am entirely surprised but v disappointed. 

So sad to hear. Be sure to claim your £40 no-show compensation …
  

Fully intend to although not sure how that works with Payg 

​@kbrown36 

How disappointing for you, your set up THTC/PAYG storage heating and immersion heater is identical to mine so I was hoping to hear how you got on and if you were in a good signal area, I know some people in perthshire are not in a signal area and haven't been able to to migrate , I am in a no signal area in DD2 and still waiting to see what the outcome will be.

If memory serves, you’ll either be given a special code to take to the shop that’ll drop £40 credit onto the key (and the meter when you next sync it with the meter) or it’ll come via cheque.

I’m really sorry to hear this ​@kbrown36. How frustrating! This topic may be helpful:
 

An update as promised.

Firstly my compensation cheque for missed appointment last week came through which was good. 

Engineer appointment today also went ahead, I got a text in the morning with estimated arrival and could track where engineer was en route.

Arrived within estimated time and I am pleased to say was successful in installing the meter in PH2 postcode area, visit took just  under 2 hours.

Things seem to be working although I have been out all afternoon so not had a chance to check whether heating kicks in at off peak hours but no reason to doubt. 

Where there is some confusion is the engineer said I would not be able to switch tarriff in future which conflicts with what I was told over telephone when arranging and would also suggest I remain tied to OVO for eternity, query has been raised with my resolution adviser who said they will make further enquiries. 

Out of interest the engineer also said there is no chance that all meters will be done before proposed RTS switch off date and fully expects that to be extended again. 

Hope that info is of help or interest. 

AFAIK the announced shutdown date of 30th September 2025 is probably non-negotiable at this point and I can’t see it being extended again tbh…

Good to hear you’re sorted though!

​@kbrown36

Thanks for posting, I am assuming you at least had a signal to proceed with the swap. 

I still haven't heard anything from OVO about my no signal dilemma nearly 2 months since failed installation, it's just a waiting game. 

Engineer suggested that thousands of customers would be affected if switched off by that time. 

Yes no signal issues that I am aware of.  Are you in touch with the resolution team? The advisor (Scottish) that I have had dealings with has been very helpful. 

​@kbrown36 

No, I contacted them a few weeks after the failed installation and they said I would get a letter but obviously I haven't had any communication from OVO apart from this forum and I think ​@Blastoise186 asked for some advice from higher up who said issues were ongoing and he would post more information when he had it

I don’t think I’ve got any extra info right now, but our Forum Engineer Luke is also keeping an eye out for updates and I chat with him all the time. Once he knows more, I will too.

​@Blastoise186 

Thanks

I believe he probably mean that if your meter is not communicating with the metering network (DCC) then your tariff - as shown on your meter and your In Home Device - cannot be switched remotely like a fully communicating smart meter can be.

In some circumstances where there is no, or a very poor, connection to the smart metering network (DCC) they are fitting pre-programmed meters and so it would take another engineer visit to to change the pre-programmed peak/off-peak timings (and possibly involve another change of pre-programmed meter).

If the meter is not fully communicating then although the tariff can be changed at OVO and it doesn’t realy matter what the smart meter and IHD say they are* they would not be able to change the peak/off-peak timings remotely if you wanted to switch say from E7 to E10 or vice-versa.
A change to the timings would need an engineer visit in those circumstances.

See what your resolution advisor says of course, but I’d be suprised if it isn’t the same as the above.

Obviously the real solution is to extend the DCC network coverage to cover the whole of the UK.
But that’s not going to happen before RTS is switched off, and realistically may never happen for very remote areas - although technology advances quickly and there are some experiments and trials going on with special communications hubs.
(eg. Connecting some smart meters over broadband, which could then use the recent advances in satellite broadband coverage in remote areas. Starlink Broadband is currently £75 a month https://www.starlink.com/gb/residential but I guess that could be worth it if you can’t get any other broadband where you live. Maybe DCC could come to some arrangement with Starlink just for linking broadband coms hubs where needed?).

*My snart meters and IHD currently show a different tariff from what I an actually paying, that isn’t a problem for me because I look at the kWh I’m using not the £’s, and do my own calculations on costs.
(I could get that corrected remotely because I do have a fully communicating hub, I’ll get round to requesting that it’s updated in my own good time).