RTS meters, Economy 7 and final readings before switching to Octopus

Most switching advice sounds simple: take a meter reading on the day you switch. That is still true, but it can be too thin for homes with Radio Teleswitch Service meters, Economy 7, Economy 10 or older multi-rate setups.

These homes can have day and night electricity registers, a separate radio teleswitch box, storage-heater circuits or heating and hot-water controls that depend on the meter. A clean switch to Octopus starts with proving what the old meter was doing before the account handover.

Why RTS and Economy 7 switches need more evidence

RTS meters use a radio signal to switch between peak and off-peak periods and, in some homes, to control heating or hot water. Ofgem says that signal is being switched off in phases. Without a suitable replacement, the meter may not switch correctly and heating or hot water can stop behaving as expected.

Octopus says smart meters are the usual replacement because they can be programmed for peak and off-peak times. If your current meter controls heating or hot water, Octopus says the replacement should be set up to match the schedule so cheaper off-peak energy can continue.

The billing risk is not just whether the new tariff is cheaper. It is whether the old final bill and first Octopus statement use the right registers, the right opening and closing readings and the right day/night split.

Before you start the switch

Check whether you have a separate box labelled RTS, Radio Teleswitch or Radio Telemeter near the electricity meter.
Check your bill for two electricity rates, two registers or two supply numbers starting with S.
Write down whether your home has storage heaters, an immersion heater or another meter-controlled heating circuit.
Ask your current supplier whether the meter needs replacing before, during or after the switch.
Ask Octopus which tariff and meter setup will be available once the account moves.

If the meter is already known to be RTS, do not ignore replacement letters because you are planning to switch. The supplier responsible for the meter still needs to make sure the setup is safe and suitable as the RTS signal is phased out.

What to record on switch day

Take the switch-day reading from the meter itself, not only from an in-home display, app graph or old statement. Citizens Advice says Economy 7 smart meters can show separate import registers, often labelled R01 and R02, Rate 01 and Rate 02 or similar. One is usually night or off-peak and the other is usually day or peak.

If you are not sure which is which, take a photo in the morning and another later in the day. The register that has moved during daytime use is the day or peak register. Keep both photos because the labels can be confusing when old suppliers, new suppliers and meter installers use different names.

photograph the full meter and any separate RTS box
photograph every visible import register, not just the total
write down the date and time of each photo
ignore leading zeroes and anything after the decimal point when submitting readings
keep a note of which register changed during the day
save old supplier statements showing the previous day/night split

What to check on the old supplier final bill

Your old supplier should send a final bill after the switch. Citizens Advice says the final bill should arrive within six weeks, and any credit should be refunded within 10 working days of that final bill. For a multi-rate electricity meter, check the bill slowly before assuming the balance is right.

Final-bill check	Why it matters
Closing date	It should match the supplier handover period rather than a random estimate date.
Day and night readings	Both registers should move from the previous bill to the final bill in a believable way.
Register labels	A swapped day/night label can make a bill look impossible even when the meter readings are real.
Estimated or actual	An estimate can create a dispute that follows you into the first Octopus statement.
Meter serial number	This helps spot a meter-exchange, wrong-meter or old-register problem.

What to check on the first Octopus statement

Once Octopus has the account, check that the opening electricity readings match the final readings used by the old supplier. If Octopus installs a replacement smart meter, keep the exchange paperwork and the final readings from the old meter as separate evidence.

For smart tariffs, billing depends on compatible smart meters, half-hourly readings and tariff terms. App data, installer notes and photographs are useful supporting evidence, but they do not replace the readings used for the bill.

If the readings do not line up

Start with evidence rather than a general complaint. Send the old supplier and Octopus the switch date, meter serial number, register photos, old final bill, first Octopus statement and a short explanation of which register looks wrong.

Useful wording is simple: ask for the calculation basis and whether the day/night registers have been mapped correctly. If there was a meter exchange, ask for the removed-meter closing reads and the new-meter opening reads. If the bill is estimated, ask what actual reading or smart-meter data would replace the estimate.

Where the referral link fits

Use the referral page only after the meter and tariff checks still make Octopus a good fit. The £50 credit is useful, but it should not distract from the practical handover work: the right meter, the right registers and a final bill that matches the first Octopus statement.