The energy landscape in the UK is changing quickly; one of the biggest changes impacting businesses and households is the ending of Radio Teleswitch meters. For decades, RTS has quietly decided when to turn on and off heating, hot water and storage systems at off-peak times. It has been efficient, invisible and reliable—until now.
With the RTS meter switch-off, thousands of businesses are finding their meters are no longer fit for purpose. If left unchanged, this could mean increased bills, uncontrolled load, or heating systems that stop working when you need them the most.
But here’s the good news; the switch-off of RTS is more than a compliance headache. It’s also an opportunity. By upgrading your metering solution to a smart meter upgrade, you can keep operating effectively, and also derive insights that can help reduce costs, and improve your energy efficiency.
This blog will take you step-by-step through the upgrade process – so you know what is going to happen as you transition away from reliance on RTS, to more intelligent, future-ready energy management.
RTS meters, which have been in operation for decades, were installed due to the need for off-peak electricity use to be remotely controlled. RTS meters were common in properties with e.g. Economy 7 or Economy 10 tariffs, or for sites with electric storage heating and hot water systems.
Here is the problem: the radio signals that operate RTS is being switched off permanently. Which means once it’s off, your controlled loads may not operate as originally designed. Heaters may fail to charge overnight; hot water goes cold and energy charges could rise as the loads return to default daytime peak usage.
If you are not sure if you are affected, take a look at your meter. If it has a teleswitch attached or there are dual registers for both day and night usage, it’s likely that you are on the RTS system. In that case, planning an RTS to smart meter upgrade is essential to avoid disruption.
Before rushing into upgrades, you need to build a clear picture of what you have. Get a metering audit started as follows:
• Collect up to the last 12 months of bills for each site that you manage.
• Photograph the meters and all the relevant teleswitches.
• Write down how your heating and hot water systems are currently controlled.
This groundwork will help to eliminate ambiguity in the future, as it is not uncommon for multi-site businesses to discover that some use completely different tariff structures and different methods of control. By producing a simple ‘map of the meters’ you will have a clear idea of which sites need upgrading and what the urgent priorities are!
Once you understand your baseline, now it’s time to appraise your upgrade options. This is what you need to consider:
• SMETS2 Smart Meter – This is the default, future-proof option as it connects to the national Data Communications Company (DCC) network which allows remote meter readings and can be used with modern tariffs.
• AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) – Used more commonly for larger commercial sites. These meters can provide the best detail on interval data, but they may not offer the flexibility for future tariffs that the SMETS2 meters will.
• Sub-Metering – This is optional, if you want to capture greater detail on specific systems such as HVAC systems or Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging.
You may want to think about this step in terms of choosing your tool for the job. The SMETS2 meter or associated P.A.Y.G. tariff should be enough for most SME’s , however larger estates may benefit from a combination of AMR meters and sub-metering, delivering the greatest intelligence.
For many businesses, this decision is not just about compliance with smart meter regulations—it’s about unlocking the wider benefits of smart meters, including better tariff access and more accurate usage data.
Business owners are often reluctant to take the plunge because it feels like business upgrades are simply another expense. Here is the real story: the return on investment will be tangible.
The benefits of going to a smart system include the following:
• Access to more competitive tariffs.
• Reduced peak demand charges by shifting loads off peak.
• Reduced wasted energy by identifying it and eliminating it.
Take a mid-sized hotel for example. After trying a smart meter installation, the hotel was able to see the times hot water tanks heated more than necessary during the peak. When the manager simply reprogrammed the tanks, their evening load declined by 12%, which offered them direct savings on their bills.
The case for upgrading differentiates itself when the bill reflects reduced wasted energy, smarter tariffs, and suppliers disputing with you less!
Now it’s the practical part – upgrading is not just an engineer’s appointment (which has to be arranged with competing parties), your energy supplier, your Meter Operator (MOP) and on occasion your Distribution Network Operator (DNO) will all be involved.
Lead times will stretch – especially in Winter, so plan ahead. Schedule a site survey for the engineers to check:
• The access and isolation points for the meter.
• The switchgear configurations.
• The appropriate signal communication for any smart connectivity.
Just remember the reasons why there could be delays – typical reasons include locked cupboard or poor mobile signal. A checklist of readiness can prevent wasted engineer visits and unexpected downtime.
The earlier you book your RTS meter replacement, the smoother your transition will be before the full phase-out deadline approaches in UK 2025.
On the installation day you should expect some downtime for the swapping of the meters. The typical process is to:
The most vital step is ensuring commissioning and enrolment in the smart network. Once established, this means your supplier receives remote reads in a timely manner, and dual registers for customers previously on RTS are programmed correctly.
To analogy, further consider your watch: even if you do not care to know what time it is, if your watch is wrong, your heating will also run at the wrong time—could be a costly inconvenience.
Now that RTS has gone, smart metering is live and your current energy world has opened up enabling you to shift away from using estimated bills and rough patterns to looking at data in real time illustrating how much energy your sites are consuming. Smart portals and analytics allow you to:
• Identify anomalies or unexpected night-time wastage,
• Compare energy use across multiple sites,
• Develop accurate data packs for tariff negotiations.
Is it as simple as that? Your current meter goes from being a silent box on the wall to a dashboard of opportunities. In our experience businesses that have acted upon the insights we help to extract from data have often found savings of 10% or more without any capital investment.
One of the major mistakes that are made after RTS turn-off, is simply forgetting to re-programme controls. Without the teleswitch, we are now not able to automatically align systems, like heaters and hot water tanks, with off peak periods. It is quite possible, and easy, for them to end up consuming energy during the most expensive times.
The solution is simple: install new timers, integrate to your Building Management System, or use smart plugs for smaller loads. Furthermore, review your tariff. Transitioning from legacy Economy 7/10 tariffs to modern time-of-use options, helps to ensure you are not still locked into poor pricing.
This is where a well-managed switch to smart meter can protect you from unnecessary cost escalation.
Smart metering isn’t just a compliance issue; it is a starting point for future energy flexibility. Once you’ve upgraded your sites, you can:
• Include solar PV and battery storage as well.
• Add EV charging while keeping visibility of the costs.
• Engage in demand response or flexibility programs that pay you to reduce load at peak times.
Think of it as building blocks: RTS was the solution of yesterday, smart metering is today’s, and flexibility markets the future’s. If you act now, you will be primed for savings and sustainability.
The end of RTS isn’t just another regulatory change; it is a watershed moment. Companies that upgrade with speed will avoid interruption, but businesses that upgrade with intelligence and insight will have long term advantages.
It is all very simple: audit your setup, select your upgrade, commission your upgrade effectively, leverage the data collected, and reset your tariffs. Do that and what is a challenge now in becoming compliant will provide you a competitive advantage tomorrow.
If you don’t know where to start, start with an audit of your meters. From there, specialists can help you build a roadmap for your upgrade, manage your installation and even negotiate a new tariff on your behalf. If RTS is going to quickly drift into history, to stay ahead, respond quickly and start making your RTS to smart meter upgrade today.