Across the UK this month energy suppliers are calling for a review on all electricity meters, aiming to have all homes fitted with new smart meters by 2020. However there has been much debate from both energy suppliers and the general public.

The main flaw that can be seen with a smart meter is that many elderly people may understand how to use the system as there have been mentions of it being linked to smart phones and a touch screen panel.

The other flaw for consumers is that they could be faced with an extra 1.8 billion on energy bills because of this new scheme. Consumer bills will rise steadily over the next ten years in order to fund these new meters and to fund the installation program.

Three major energy suppliers known as EDF Energy, Scottish Power and Npower are calling on ministers to review the rollout of meters which are aimed to automatically test gas and electricity usage readings for the user and then send it straight to the suppliers.

The government believe that consumers will save money as these touch screen meters will allow users to see the amount of electric that they are using in real time therefore they will be more aware of what they are using hence encouraging them to use less energy.

The government have already introduced the meter into more than one million homes as a test to see how successful the new system is for these homes. However one area in London found that only 15% of users wanted a smart meter over a standard electricity meter.

Talks are understood to be ongoing between suppliers and government after ministers pledged to do all they can to reduce energy bills.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “Smart meters will put consumers in control of their energy use, bringing an end to estimated bills and helping people to save money and switch supplier. The Government's vision is for every home and smaller business in Great Britain to have smart electricity and gas meters by 2020. Energy suppliers have the job of installing smart meters in people’s homes, but it is the benefits to individual consumers that are our focus.”

If this scheme does become a certainty over the next few year’s chances are that euro coin meters, electricity credit metersand sterling coin meters could be a thing of the past.