Act now before old RTS meters are switched off

Home owners who are still using old Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meters need to act now and get them upgraded, said Midlands green energy expert Ron Fox.

He warned that residents could be left without electricity or hot water if they did not have them replaced before the summer deadline of the end of June.

Ofgem, the independent energy regulator for Great Britain, also known as the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, has warned that the switch-off at the end of next month may lead to electric storage heaters charging at the wrong time of day leading to higher energy bills.

Designed in the 1980s, the meters work through a radio service operated since the 1980s by the BBC on the Radio 4 longwave signal, controlling the overnight charging of a home’s electric storage heating and hot water.
Most of these people are on off-peak tariffs so they have cheap energy at night and more expensive energy in the day. But the technology will become obsolete in four weeks’ time and the effects may not become obvious until the autumn when people put on their heating ready for winter.

Homes using RTS meters are typically in areas with no mains gas supply, and the property is usually heated using electricity or storage heaters. The meters often have a separate box next to the electricity meter, and are labelled differently.

Energy suppliers are now racing against the clock to achieve the switch-off with an estimated 1,000 meters installed a day. It is a significant undertaking as recent estimates showed that a couple of months ago 411,000 people in the UK were still on RTS meters, with most in Scotland and the south east of England. That figure is now believed to have dropped to between 300,000 and 350,000.

“One problem may be that fears over switching to smart meters, which are not obligatory, could be holding people back from having their old RTS meter changed,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science and Innovation Park. “But when they’re working well smart meters have many advantages, so I encourage any worried residents to contact their energy supplier as soon as possible.”

He said that unlike traditional meters, smart meters eliminate estimated bills, can record half-hourly price and consumption data and provide automatic meter readings to an energy supplier, as well as potentially reducing energy consumption and costs.

For those wanting more advice about updating their old RTS meters and green energy, call Ron on 01782 756995 or contact us here

Caption: Replace any old RTS meters before the end of June. Picture: Wikipedia