What support is available when my RTS meter is replaced with a smart meter?

The support available is straightforward: your supplier arranges the upgrade, and in most cases it costs you nothing. All electricity suppliers have been contacting affected customers to offer a smart meter upgrade at no extra cost⁵. Suppliers are required to proactively contact customers who use RTS meters to tell them about the switch-off date and the need to upgrade⁶.

What the household has to do is make contact. Ofgem's guidance is to contact your supplier to arrange to have a new smart meter installed⁷. The switch-off is a phased process rather than one national date, so the timing varies by area, but the obligation on the meter does not³.

What happens to an RTS meter and why it must be replaced

The Radio Teleswitch Service is a long-wave radio signal that tells certain electricity meters when to switch between peak and off-peak rates. It was brought in over 40 years ago, and it is being withdrawn¹⁰. Because the signal is going, the equipment that depends on it cannot keep working as designed. The Radio Teleswitch Service is ending, so all RTS meters need to be replaced².

Smart meters are a technical replacement for RTS meters because they can be programmed to deliver a similar service¹. That is the substance of the support: not a like-for-like swap of one radio-controlled box for another, but a meter that carries the same switching function internally. A smart meter will give you a similar service to your RTS meter¹².

The obligation sits with the supplier. Your supplier must replace your meter to make sure there's no disruption to your electricity supply². Where a smart meter cannot be installed, the supplier still has to replace your RTS meter with a suitable alternative². The switch-off will be a phased process, meaning it won't happen across the entire country at once, so neighbours on different suppliers or in different network areas may be contacted at different times³.

For a household's energy independence, this is a change of control rather than a loss of it. The RTS meter depended on a broadcast signal owned and operated outside the home. A smart meter holds the switching schedule itself and can be reprogrammed when tariffs change, which is why it can support time-of-use pricing without a physical visit.

The smart meter upgrade: the replacement and how it works

Your energy supplier can replace your RTS meter with a smart meter³. The upgrade is arranged through the supplier, and the meter can be programmed to switch between peak and off-peak times, which makes it the only available replacement to your RTS meter⁴. Suppliers describe the work in the same terms: the upgrade is to a new smart meter which can offer a similar service to an RTS meter¹³.

The wider context is the national rollout. Smart meters are replacing analogue gas and electricity meters as part of the national infrastructure upgrade to improve and modernise Great Britain's energy system¹⁴. That programme is the reason the replacement is offered at scale rather than case by case.

Two generations of meter are in circulation. Second-generation meters, known as SMETS2, started being installed in 2018¹⁵. They were designed to connect directly to the national secure network, which allows supplier switching while retaining smart functionality¹⁶. First-generation SMETS1 meters will be upgraded to SMETS2 in due course if they haven't been already¹⁷.

Where signal is poor, the supplier has a fallback. If a smart meter cannot be fitted because of a lack of signal, the supplier will usually install a non-communicating smart meter preset to switch between tariffs⁸. When smart meter network coverage reaches your area, your supplier should arrange to connect your smart meter to the network³. Until then the meter works, but without remote readings or the full range of smart functions.

Your replacement options: smart, non-smart or preset

Smart meters are optional, but without one you miss out on easier billing and innovative tariff options¹⁸. You are not obliged to accept a smart meter, and you do have the right to refuse one⁵. Refusal does not remove the need to replace the RTS meter, because the signal is ending regardless.

The practical options are these:

• A smart meter, which carries the switching schedule and can support time-of-use tariffs⁴.
• A non-communicating smart meter preset to switch between tariffs, usually fitted where there is no signal⁸.
• A meter with your tariff pre-programmed, which you can ask for if you refuse a smart meter. You'll need to send in manual readings, and you won't get the full benefits of a smart meter, but your heating will continue to work³.

That last point matters for anyone weighing up refusal. The right to refuse applies before installation; reversing a smart meter afterwards is a different matter, and the Energy Ombudsman's guidance is that it would happen only exceptionally, potentially at a cost²⁰. Where a traditional meter is faulty or unsafe, replacement options may be limited even though refusal remains a right²⁰.

For households on a smart prepayment meter, payment method is separable from the meter itself: it is usually possible to change how you pay without getting a new meter²¹.

What the switch-off means for heating and hot water

This is where the deadline bites hardest. The switch off will affect customers that have an RTS meter in their home, and may mean that their heating and hot water supply stops functioning as normal²². When the signal ends, RTS meters will lose functionality²³. Your heating and hot water could stop working properly, for example turning on or off at the wrong times³.

The failure modes are not always a clean stop. A heating system or water heater controlled by the RTS meter could stop working once the signal is turned off, and where it keeps running it may get stuck on or off, or charge at the wrong time of day¹⁰. For a household on a night rate, that last one is the quiet cost: storage heaters charging at peak prices, or a hot water cylinder heating when it should not.

RTS meters are most common in homes that heat with electricity or storage heaters, in areas with no gas supply, and on tariffs with cheaper electricity at different times of day such as Economy 7, Economy 10 or Total Heat Total Control¹. Some older Economy 7 meters use the RTS service and will be affected, but not all Economy 7 meters²³.

If you move to a smart meter, then you will be able to continue on a time-of-use tariff, that will give you cheaper electricity at night¹⁰. If a smart meter cannot be installed, the supplier may install a different type of meter that can still offer a cheaper night rate, though this varies between suppliers¹⁰.

How to book your replacement with your supplier

The route is direct. Contacting your supplier is the way to arrange to have a new smart meter installed⁷. For an RTS meter, phoning your supplier as soon as possible, using the number on your bill, avoids any issues on your switch off date¹⁰.

The sequence in practice:

1. Check whether your meter is RTS, using the switch box and tariff signs above¹.
2. Contact your supplier, by phone or through your online account, and ask for the RTS replacement¹⁰.
3. Agree an appointment. Your supplier should let you know at least two weeks beforehand when your RTS meter is scheduled to be switched off².
4. Allow about 2 hours if both gas and electricity meters are being replaced⁹.

If you have separate suppliers for gas and electricity, you'll need to book individual appointments with both, and it is recommended that you change your electricity meters first¹⁵. Your gas smart meter should send a notification to your supplier when it needs replacing, so the gas side can be triggered by the meter itself²⁵.

Some households cannot book yet. There are situations where your electricity supplier won't be able to offer you an appointment for a smart meter upgrade, and the supplier will get in touch when it can¹². Suppliers are required to proactively contact RTS customers about the switch-off and the need to upgrade⁶, and all electricity suppliers are contacting impacted customers to offer a smart meter upgrade before the service is phased out²⁶.

On supplier choice: the replacement is arranged with your current supplier, because that supplier must replace the meter². You can switch suppliers if you have a smart meter, but your new supplier might not offer all the smart meter services such as remote meter readings, and the meter may need replacing²⁷. For anything that goes wrong with the process, the energy complaint route and the Energy Ombudsman are the escalation paths, and the wider home energy how-to guide covers meter readings and switching in more detail.