Just noticed an offer pop up in my transaction feed for Bulb, offering me the possibility to save on my energy bills. Good to see some of the ideas about helping customers save money come to fruition in the app.
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In case anyone’s wondering, this is Bulb -
Feels a bit like an ad, not sure I’m keen on seeing that in my ‘bank statement’. Mostly because I’ve had no payments go out for electricity, and I don’t pay that bill, my landlord does so it’s not relevant. I assume in the future it’ll be more targeted.
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I’ve had (or will have once the direct debits switch) utility bills on standard variable tariffs going out of my account so for me it seemed like a targeted advert. Looks like quite a competitive provider as well. I need to dig out my expected energy usage from previous bills to get a more targeted estimate of savings before I choose to switch though.
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If you, or anyone else, decides to use Bulb, use this link and get £50 free credit from them: bulb.co.uk/refer/adam2784
I’ve only signed up recently but my experience has been good, Good customer service, keeping me updated with what stage I was at in the switchover etc
I too got the Bulb referral in my feed. Made the effort to check all the price tariff comparisons and they are much dearer that what I pay with nPower now. So I won’t be switching at this moment in time 
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I switched from nPower to Bulb a couple of months ago because I wasn’t happy with the way their CS dealt with an issue I had. When I compared tariffs there wasn’t much of a difference; iirc the electricity and gas tariffs were a little higher but the standing charge was lower. We use lower than average energy compared to average households in our area so I thought I’d give them a go.
My direct debits are actually lower now (I’ll see what changes happen come winter time), though it hasn’t actually cost me anything so far as my referrals have given me and the new signups £50 credit
My DD are £48.38 pm with Bulb, they were about £58 pm with nPower.
Perhaps over time it would be useful if the Monzo app could be able to connect to a variety of providers. They could estimate through the app how much energy you used (or allow you to input the amount more directly) and then use that to estimate potential savings from a variety of approved providers where you could switch in a few clicks.
I think the only issue with having a suggestion of one provider in isolation is that you wonder whether it is the best deal. If a few options where available then it would increase the chance I would instantly switch.
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Out of interest, how does this compare then?
I’m on nPower Feel Good Fix June 2018.
Gas nPower:
2.825p per KWh
Standing charge 12.663p per day
Electricity nPower:
10.80p per KWh
Standing charge 21.11p per day
Gas Bulb:
2.628 KWh
Standing charge 24.55p per day
Electricity Bulb:
13.00p per KWh
Standing charge 24.55p per day
Bulb appear much dearer looking at the figs, unless I don’t understand them! lol
You’re currently paying about £727 a year.
By switching to Bulb you’ll be paying around £738 a year.
I’ve no idea what tariff I was on, I just remember comparing tariffs at the time and thinking there wasn’t much in it.
My current tariffs with Bulb are:
Gas:
2.61p per kWh, standing charge 23p per day
Electricity:
12.12p per kWh, standing charge 23p per day
Prices are ex VAT @ 5%
In any case my issue with nPower took over 2 months of emails and phone calls, and despite assurances all the way, they could not deliver so I decided to switch and couldn’t be happier now.
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By those calculations if I refer just one person a year I’ll save with Bulb compared to nPower.
I guess I’m good for the next three years 
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+1 for bulb from me too
They also have an app so you can submit a meter reading just by taking a photo of your meter via the app
(bulb.co.uk/refer/adam271 if you’re gonna switch, gets us both a free £50 
)
Not sure Monzo will be too happy that everyone is posting personalised affiliate links which would bypass any commission they might make 
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I was referred by a couple of friends to check out OVO. So far the experience has been great. The app seems to be a wrapped web app but they promise me, once smart meters are installed, the app is quite insightful. Over time it recognises spikes in energy with certain appliances and then shows a usage breakdown based on this.
I get my smart meters on Monday so will report back when I have more to share. As for cost they were £25 per year cheaper (for me) than Scottish Power. However Scottish Power seem reluctant to install smart meters.
Referral if interested (and the maths stack up to switch): https://ovoenergy.mention-me.com/m/ol/hc4nu-8f0fed5ecc believe it is £25 credit for both parties 
It’s probably OK. Probably only 10% max of the targeted users who receive this will be active forum members.
By the way, this offer was heavily targeted, and only went to small amount of users. It’s really more of a test than anything
With regards to it feeling like an ad, it’s a dismissible feed item, so only one tap needed to remove it
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I like the idea of getting those feeds. If not interested just remove, but there could be good ideas that you’ve not thought of.
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I totally understand why you’re experimenting with this kind of thing at this stage, but on this point:
Being dismissible doesn’t make something feel less like an ad. Some websites overlay an advert on the whole page when you visit. The fact the overlay is dismissable with one tap doesn’t make it less irritating. 
Just something to keep in mind as you experiment on how to integrate offers/suggestions.
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How was it targeted? As I mention, I have no energy bills coming out of my account (or any utility bills at all, as my landlord pays them). Yes you can dismiss it but that ignores the fact it’s an ad popping up in our feed in the first place.
I’m fine with offers but would probably prefer them to be in another section, like the Marketplace when it comes, rather than in amongst my feed. And making them opt-in would be preferable, of course.
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After seeing this thread I checked out prices from Bulb. They seemed a lot higher than my current supplier Octopus Energy https://octopus.energy/
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