IN reply to Paul Dakin’s letter about smart meters (Shuttle November 14).

Personally, I have never been able to trust the blurb put out about smart meters and I have expressed my views on these before.

I fully agree with Paul who is correct in pointing out the old-style meters are very efficient and will carry on being efficient for many years to come.

READ MORE: Paul Dakin's letter

The issue nowadays is the powers that be want you to buy into the ‘benefits’ the manufacturer wants to sell you and they cannot do this unless you have a digital meter.

Improvements in technology do not necessarily make things work better and save us money or free us from problems.

Remember this is the digital age and anything is possible when you have an internet connection or by wireless technology.

This next generation will know nothing of the ‘old’ ways and as such will have to be more aware of scams and cons.

Whereas in the days of ‘analogue’ (non-digital) none of what is achievable today was not possible.

Many years ago in 1960 I started my working career in a company known as Chamberlain and Hookam in Bartholomew Street, Birmingham.

I had an apprenticeship and learnt the trade of making electric meters, domestic and industrial.

These meters were eventually installed into homes across the country by the Electricity Board to record consumers’ consumption of electricity.

Meter readers were specially employed to read the meters every so often.

The bill would arrive in the post and we would pay it at the electricity shop in town. Simple!

Prices then did not force us to evaluate our usage as they do now.

These meters were solidly built and built to last.

They have proved the test of time but these new gadgets, the same as any electronic gadget today, are prone to faults and require updates.

While the smart meter is out of use what happens to your usage — chaos and problems for you to try to sort out while wasting your precious time on hold for someone to attend to you.

This never happened with the old system.

In the end the only way to save money is to use less energy and only use what you need.

I have heard of an ‘opt-out’ scheme so that if you don’t want a smart meter then so be it, period.

Maybe someone reading can enlighten us further on this.

James Cottrell

Kidderminster