Getting a SMETS2 smart meter with storage heaters, underfloor heating or other 5th port appliances
Updated on 03/06/25 by Emmanuelle_OVO:
SMETS2 Five port smart meters - Your Guide
You’re now able to book five terminal/port SMETS2 meter installations via your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS), subject to availability.
What’s a five port meter?
A five port meter is an electricity meter with an extra terminal which is usually wired up to alternative heating solutions such as underfloor heating or storage heaters. You can check whether your meter is four or five port by checking the number of wires connected to the bottom of your meter.
How does the SMETS2 five port meter work?
Five terminal meters are most often used for members on an Economy 7 plan. The fifth terminal is automatically powered on during the off-peak hours of your tariff.
Technical info here, but for those interested, unlike SMETS1 the time-switch controlling the fifth port isn’t decided by the tariff loaded on to the meter and is instead set-up at the point of manufacture. This means the fifth terminal should work properly even if the meters aren’t communicating with us. The default off-peak hours loaded on to the meter are 00:00 - 07:00. When the engineer installs your meter they’ll also send an 'Electricity Configure Auxiliary Load' request (commonly known as an 'ECAUL') to configure the time-switch on the meter to match the off peak hours for your region.
Troubleshooting issues with a five port S2 meter
If your heating isn’t switching on as expected (or at the times expected) following a SMETS2 meter install, it might be due to an issue with this ECAUL configuration process, in which case we may be able to fix things remotely. Reach out to our Support Team to report these issues.
Related Guides and Forum topics:
OVO member but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!
Smart meter not sending reads? Fill out a smart meter health check form
This topic is now closed, so you won’t be able to reply here. If your question hasn’t been answered or you need more advice, feel free to ask the community — we’re here to help!
Page 2 / 2
Really apprciate the help. More than I’m getting from my current suplplier.
This is the display we have (sorry about the reflections):
A Geo Trio II Touchbutton has been detected. You can find the budget settings in the menu.
I always forget exactly where it is in the menu for the Geo IHDs, but no doubt @kevinmcintyre09 can give me a reminder. :)
However, I get the feeling it’s Home Button > Settings > Budget.
Now if only Geo would send me one of their Wi-Fi clippy gadgets for free for erm… “Testing”... I know a place where I could definitely make use of it...
Ah great IHD-identifying there, @Blastoise186.
I wonder if our Geo IHD guide might have the information you’re after, @tintin_uk?
A Geo Trio II Touchbutton has been detected. You can find the budget settings in the menu.
I always forget exactly where it is in the menu for the Geo IHDs, but no doubt @kevinmcintyre09 can give me a reminder. :)
However, I get the feeling it’s Home Button > Settings > Budget.
Now if only Geo would send me one of their Wi-Fi clippy gadgets for free for erm… “Testing”... I know a place where I could definitely make use of it...
Sorry missed this one. Yes the budget setting is spot on
A Geo Trio II Touchbutton has been detected. You can find the budget settings in the menu.
I always forget exactly where it is in the menu for the Geo IHDs, but no doubt @kevinmcintyre09 can give me a reminder. :)
However, I get the feeling it’s Home Button > Settings > Budget.
Now if only Geo would send me one of their Wi-Fi clippy gadgets for free for erm… “Testing”... I know a place where I could definitely make use of it...
@tintin_uk
Hi Tintin, the dial on your Trio has thresholds which receive the set-up from the smart meter. So it is possible with your set up, that they increased the threshold of green/amber to reflect the higher usage of kW in your home (from the underfloor heating).
On the new versions of firmware (which I believe we had with pureplanet), there should be a setting to change this. Press Home button (menu) > Settings > Advanced. The second item in the list if you are on the newer firmware will be Usage levels. You can choose from low, medium or high, or meter for the default meter settings.
The link below is a video showing how to change it
I have just moved into a property with night storage heaters , economy 7 and a RTS meter, which I have now found out will cease to operate from March 2024. My understanding is that I need a 5 terminal ACLS smart meter which can turn a second circuit on and off like my storage heaters . Currently the RTS meter is switching my night storage heaters on at off peak times.I have contacted my current supplier and they don’t seem to understand. I thought all suppliers had to ensure a smooth transition and functional meter after the RTS shutdown. Current supplier is Eon ?
Hey @Yaffle ,
You just need a Five-Terminal Smart Meter actually. OVO is pretty experienced with these and as a forum volunteer here, so am I.
If you wanted to get this sorted out you could consider switching to OVO via https://switch.ovoenergy.com . If you use this link, I won’t get commission or kickback and it’s the same one you’d find on OVO’s homepage and via Google.
Once you’re set up, you’d be able to use https://smart-booking.ovoenergy.com to get it all arranged. Make sure to select the option that you have Economy 7!
Also currently on a 2 meter set up with one for daytime and the other an RTS controlled meter for THTC. Currently we can’t have smart meters here, so what happens if RTS is switched off before we can?
Also with THTC you get a couple of spells of your water being heated during the day at the cheaper rate. Obviously only heating it at night during Economy 7 hours would be hopeless as you would very quickly run out of hot water and have to boost it at daytime rates?
OVO is working on THTC support with Smart Meters.
If the RTS Signal gets nuked in the meantime, the meters you have now will continue to function using the failsafe/fallback local timeswitches.
Hi, First time on this forum and not currently an OVO customer but this thread looks very useful to me and I could be switching.
I’ve got no gas to my house so use old storage heaters and a wood burning stove as top up for heating. I also have a small 12 year old PV setup where I get paid for generation and deemed export through it’s own meter. I am on Eco 7 with Octopus on two old meters, no smart meter yet. I want to get an EV charging point and make use of the cheap nighttime tariffs but also need to keep the storage heaters on a timed supply to avoid them being on during the day on high tariff.
I think I need a 5 terminal smart meter for all this.?? My real question is will I be able to access the full range of smart meter tariffs on the 5th terminal or will I only be able to be on Eco7/for the whole meter? Would I be better off getting a standard smart meter and then installing my own time switch inside the house to turn on the storage heaters? That would have to be a meaty switch as there’s a sizeable current when the storage heaters are on. Thanks
Howdy @SteveBoxted !
You’ll be able to access pretty much any tariff with a 5-Terminal Smart Meter, not just E7 tariffs and you’ll need one in your case. I’d recommend using that to do the timeswitching stuff rather than using your own timeswitch - this is the only way to ensure that you don’t accidentally get charged the wrong rate.
Hi @Tim_OVO ,
Im currently with a different supplier on a restricted meter (ComfortPlus White). My current storage heater setup and wiring would be compatible with the 5 terminal smart meter and I am looking to change electricity provider to OVO (as I heard a lot of good things). With the RTS switch off, I am worried that I will be left on my expensive standard rate at my current supplier if I don’t move or change meters.
Could you please advise me if this meter is still available and how I could switch to OVO (even if it means I would be on a standard tariff for a few weeks initially)? I tried to call but after a few transfers I got disconnected.
Howdy @Selim !
Forum Volunteer here. Could you show us some snaps of the meter real quick? It just helps us to understand things a bit better. However, OVO does indeed offer 5-Terminal SMETS2 Smart Meters and has full support for them.
If you’d rather just go ahead and change supplier directly, try https://switch.ovoenergy.com . If you use this exact link, I won’t get commission or kickback and it’s the same one you’d find on Google.
Need advice from other members?
Ask your question to our members - they have the experience you're looking for: