Electric meter advice

[Stevejd58]

To be clear I have no intention of messing with this, I just need to pick a few brains on the following.

British gas are sending me this on a regular basis, a ploy I think to get me to install a smart meter which i don't want.

"The radio service that supports your meter is being switched off. So we need to replace your electricity meter to make sure it continues to work after June 2025.
Your current meter switches rates using a radio signal, helping your meter change between day and night rates. This is often used by people who have electric storage systems, panel heaters or immersion heaters in water tanks – as some of these typically charge up overnight."

My current meter is an AMPY Reporter 5184A which, if I have read the manual correctly Ampy 5184A manual doesn't have a radio connection.
Have I got this right and its a BG trick to get me to swap to a smart meter?

 

[littlespark]

Older properties may have a meter and a separate teleswitch, which does need the radio signal.

Is there any other big black box near the meter?

Can you send a photo?

 

[Stevejd58]

Older properties may have a meter and a separate teleswitch, which does need the radio signal.

Is there any other big black box near the meter?

Can you send a photo?

No other boxes bar the main fuse

 

[littlespark]

Ok. Do you actually have a 2 rate tariff on your bill?

Is there another box at the consumer unit?

 

[Stevejd58]

Ok. Do you actually have a 2 rate tariff on your bill?

Is there another box at the consumer unit?

dual rate (economy 7) and no other box at consumer unit

 

[littlespark]

Ok… it’s just there’s only one set of tails going from this meter into the house… it needs to split somewhere to power the overnight storage heaters just at night.

 

[Stevejd58]

Ok… it’s just there’s only one set of tails going from this meter into the house… it needs to split somewhere to power the overnight storage heaters just at night.

Hi
economy 7 was pretty much a default install in the old Eastern Electricity board days, previous owners never took it out. In this house it meant the fridge freezer ran cheaper, never been any storage heaters as its been gas heated since the 60s.

 

[Avo Mk8]

Have I got this right and its a BG trick to get me to swap to a smart meter?

I think you are right that the Ampy meter does not have a time code receiver on board. From another post I saw it appears to have a real time clock (which by now is probably wrong!). It is a dual tariff meter and has a contactor on board to switch an off peak CU - clearly no longer connected.

I hope the house has been on a single tariff since the E7 was abandoned, so presumably you are just being charged a normal single rate.

One issue is that the meter will be out of its certification period after 20 years, and I have read that in this circumstance your supplier now has a right to change the meter to a smart meter without your agreement. However if they have any dumb meters still available they might offer you one, or they may be willing to set up a smart meter in "dumb mode"? I think you would need to provide a justification of why you need a dumb meter, given the suppliers are charged with the job of rolling out smart.

 

[Stevejd58]

I think you are right that the Ampy meter does not have a time code receiver on board. From another post I saw it appears to have a real time clock (which by now is probably wrong!). It is a dual tariff meter and has a contactor on board to switch an off peak CU - clearly no longer connected.

I hope the house has been on a single tariff since the E7 was abandoned, so presumably you are just being charged a normal single rate.

One issue is that the meter will be out of its certification period after 20 years, and I have read that in this circumstance your supplier now has a right to change the meter to a smart meter without your agreement. However if they have any dumb meters still available they might offer you one, or they may be willing to set up a smart meter in "dumb mode"? I think you would need to provide a justification of why you need a dumb meter, given the suppliers are charged with the job of rolling out smart.

My bills don't state Economy 7 but I am being charged at 2 rates. the clock is out by 4 hours but still date correct
Meter was certified in Nov 05 so not quite out yet.
when you say "has a contactor on board to switch an off peak CU - clearly no longer connected" can you explain more please

 

[littlespark]

The contactor would switch in at a given time and allow power to flow into another set of tails to power just the overnight heating…. But you don’t have this other set of tails

 

[Stevejd58]

The contactor would switch in at a given time and allow power to flow into another set of tails to power just the overnight heating…. But you don’t have this other set of tails

So effectively i dont have to change my meter yet as its still in certification until next year (20yrs) but basically BG are using scare tactics around the RTS to get me on a smart meter to boost their numbers.
So it's a meter change inevitably but as it is under current rules, I don't have to accept a smart meter, it's either a dumb meter or a smart in dumb mode

 

[Avo Mk8]

when you say "has a contactor on board to switch an off peak CU - clearly no longer connected" can you explain more please

Thank you to littlespark for clarifying my mumbo jumbo.

Just to say that being on a dual tariff means you will typically pay more for electricity during the day, and a lot less for night time. To give an idea of the difference, it can work out that at least 40% of your total usage needs to be at night for it to be cheaper to be on a dual tariff. The fact your clock is 4 hours out makes the comparison more difficult, but you might find you could get lower bills on a single tariff. I gather there are on-line calculators to help work out which is best, so could be worth exploring.
PS to clarify - changing tariff does not mean the meter has to be changed.
And you're right, the time code broadcast switch-off is irrelevant for this meter