Posted by: @Anonymous

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So everyone on E7 currently with a radio time switch will get a smart meter or just be moved to standard tariff.

Hopefully, suppliers aren't just moving people to a standard tariff. The RTS system is there to diversify demand in areas where large loads, such as storage heaters, might come on at the same time and threaten network stability. Moving too many people in an area off E7 could lead to network problems that impact everyone.

Posted by: @algienon

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RTS system is there to diversify

Is being decommissioned this year for anyone who has missed it. Later this year they will no longer work, so YOU HAVE TO contact your supplier - or you WILL be on a standard tariff.

Posted by: @Anonymous

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Posted by: @algienon

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RTS system is there to diversify

Is being decommissioned this year for anyone who has missed it. Later this year they will no longer work, so YOU HAVE TO contact your supplier - or you WILL be on a standard tariff.

I don't think that's how it works. They'll still be on E7, but their meter will no longer receive scheduling instructions, meaning it might not charge storage heaters or DHW. Some people might find that their heaters are charging in the middle of summer, but the scale of the problem might not become apparent until the autumn, when people aren't automatically charging storage heaters overnight at a cheap rate and have to turn them on at peak times just to stay warm.

Regardless of what the impact is, if you think you have an RTS meter (usually storage heaters in the home), contact your supplier asap! The best way to avoid the uncertainty of this is to get a smart meter and make sure it's set up for E7 or E10

None of the components of the new system you describe are sensible to look at in isolation and I believe that goes for the tariff too; I expect, @algienon, that you think the same thing or otherwise you wouldn't've given the whole rundown before asking about the tariff. The key point, therefore, is one @johnmo alluded to when he said he uses Home Assistant in that it's not so much what tariff you choose as much as how you make it work for you and that means some active management of components.

The more you can implement some automated logic rules the more a tariff like Octopus' Agile makes sense since the unpredictability of prices doesn't matter if you've got a home automation setup monitoring them and acting as you define. If, on the other hand, you prefer to tinker manually or just rely on predictable patterns then another tariff may well be more appropriate.

To give you an example, I'm on Octopus' Agile import and their flat rate Outgoing export tariff. This opens up several opportunities but is best suited to being used with some form of home automation so that:

• We can ensure our battery is full ready for the expensive part of the day (typically 4pm-7pm). We let the solar PV fill the battery and then, if the battery isn't at least 50% full at 2pm or 75% full at 3pm we top up from the grid. We then tell the battery to stop charging from grid at 4pm (this is a hard rule).
• We can make the most of negative pricing (if prices go negative, charge the battery from grid and, if it's connected, do the same for the EV) which is entirely unpredictable but surprisingly frequent.
• We can balance grid import, solar generation and grid export e.g. if it's a sunny day and import prices are really cheap - single digits pence, for instance - then it makes more sense to charge the car quickly from grid at circa 2-4p rather than from our solar panels because that means we can start exporting quicker and be paid 15p per kWh.
• With a bigger battery (like the one you're getting), we could also consider moving to the Agile Outgoing tariff and schedule some export when prices are REALLY good.
• We can override any large imports of energy if the local carbon intensity is above a certain threshold (i.e. if the leccy is being generated from fossil fuels).
• We could, like @johnmo, choose to do some fancier stuff with the heat pump but I've found in our circumstances that that's a bit of loose change compared with the effect of the EV so I leave the heat pump alone generally.

Although I too use Home Assistant, I'm not wedded to it and am well aware there are other home automation systems available and even the ability to write your own completely bespoke stuff so you have a reasonable number of options. More importantly, it's worth bearing in mind that tariffs will come and go - @transparent has written quite a lot on this subject in other threads - and you can probably see that what I've set out can be tweaked for different tariffs as and when I switch.

Posted by: @algienon

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Thanks for the responses so far, folks. Looks like EOn Next Drive might be a contender. Two issues - no EV at the moment (but I will have a charger) and no Smart Meter. Is it time to bite the bullet and get a Smart Meter? 

They haven't asked me to prove that I have an EV (I do) but the terms do require that you charge an EV from time to time, so I guess they could if they detected a pattern of usage consistent with not having an EV.

As @johnmo says getting a smart meter is definitely a good idea.  It opens up tarrifs not otherwise available and gives you information to make an intelligent choice.