Hi ​@Andi ,

Apologies, but your images are unclear and I can’t assess them easily.

Could you give it another shot please? If you’re able to show me the entire meter and everything around it, that would make it easier.

Thanks

Hi I'm not home at the moment so I'll try again later on. Thanks. 

No worries. Meanwhile, I think I found a couple of clues that might help me.

Bear with me - I’ve started my research!

My son has just sent me some clearer pictures.

Thanks!

This doesn’t immediately scream out RTS Meter to me… However, it is a supplier-specific complex tariff which are often associated with RTS. Given that it’s also 17 years old and you’ve probably only got three years left before Recertification anyway, upgrading to a Smart Meter would be a good idea for piece of mind.

Be warned though, leaving EDF with the Economy 20:20 tariff means you’ll lose the structure - no-one else offers that combination.

Actually, I noticed your meter seems to have a missing seal. You might want to get EDF out ASAP to fix that. Or if they’re not your supplier anymore, your current supplier should be happy to fix this.

Thanks for the reply. The issue I have however  is that I have to submit readings the other way around with this meter. So 1 as 2 and 2 as 1. I don't know how this would affect any future upgrade to a smart meter? My current tariff is a standard variable one.

Gotcha. That wouldn’t be a problem - Smart Meters can be set up so that the correct readings are submitted automatically for the correct rates.

If they somehow didn’t, there’d be ways to fix it remotely without an engineer.

Thank you. From what you can see do you think an engineer would have issues installing a smart meter with this current set up? I ask because a couple of friends haven't been able to get theirs installed for various reasons. The gas meter is also a bit far from the electric. Electric is by the front door and gas is under the stairs. 

Shouldn’t be too bad - show me the gas meter though and I’ll be happy to check.

There are now magic tricks to make the range between the two very, very long...

I'm still not home and son has left now aswell so I'll try to send a photo over later thank you. You mentioned my tariff might be complex but upon checking I'm on a standard variable tariff? 

I think it was on Economy 20:20 at some point. Did you later swap to single rate?

Standard Variable Rate tariffs exist in both simple and complex versions - SVT basically just controls the rates based on market prices.

To be honest I don't remember. If I did it would have been a while ago. This is what it says on my bills if it helps. 

One thing that I note from the photos is that the meter backboard seem very small and everything else appears to be fixed directly to the wall.
Or is it wood panelling under that wall covering?

I’m not sure if that may be an issue when replacing the meter?

Yeah, that looks like Economy 20:20 to me

So does that mean it's RTS or not? 

Not that I know of based on my sources

So just to be clear from my photos and tariff etc you believe this meter isn't RTS controlled? Sorry, just trying to verify for sure!

Not RTS by the looks of things. It appears to be locally operated via a local timeswitch.

Ok thanks, it's because earlier you said the tariff itself might be an issue. That's why I was confused

One thing that I note from the photos is that the meter backboard seem very small and everything else appears to be fixed directly to the wall.
Or is it wood panelling under that wall covering?

I’m not sure if that may be an issue when replacing the meter?

 

Hi thanks for that info. Not sure what's under the wallpaper to be honest. It seems that there's a lot of reasons engineers may or may not be able to install a smart meter which is quite contradictory to how suppliers make it seem like it will be a smooth process for most! A few people I know haven't been able to get one for one reason or another. That's why I kind of want to hold off for the moment if I can as this meter is doing its job. 

Morning ​@Andi, I hope you’re well.

Thanks for your post, and a warm welcome to the OVO Forum .

I can see ​@Blastoise186 and ​@Nukecad have come through with some great answers for you here. If the meter isn’t RTS then you don’t need to hurry to get it replaced if you don’t want to, the only thing is what ​@Blastoise186 has mentioned here:

Given that it’s also 17 years old and you’ve probably only got three years left before Recertification anyway, upgrading to a Smart Meter would be a good idea for piece of mind.

At some point your supplier will be in touch to say the meter is reaching the end of its lifespan, and has to be replaced. When this happens, I’d recommend sending your supplier the photos of the meters and the surrounding areas so they know exactly what needs to be done to get the job sorted.

Cheers!