Add your feedback on energy supplier Lumo

MSE_Andrew

This is a feedback thread on energy supplier

Lumo

Please share your experience with other MoneySavers. Click reply to take part

• Did your switch go smoothly?
• Have you had problems since?
• Is it easy to contact?

The feedback comes as part of the

Cheap Energy Club

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, watch our New to Forum? Intro Guide.

TheHeatingEngineer

No Significant problems. The App just works. I'm fussy about technology working. Lumo was fine for me.
I read several comments from users where they had had a bad time, but after using the App for a year, I am tempted to think they were probably the cause of the problem - or perhaps the larger part.
I have noticed that the App gets a bit precious about an account going into the red which will happen if you join in the winter as I did. If you do the maths and plot a graph of predicted account balance, then the only way to avoid the negative balance is to join a tariff at the beginning of the warmer weather. But of course that is probably not practical. So the only workable option is to ignore the negative balance messages.

tjp253

Coming to the end of my year with Lumo now.
Switch was smooth and smart meters got installed within a month (I'm not bothered about smart meters, but they came with a £75 discount per fuel).
Contact is slow, as it is all email based. No numbers to phone.

The main problems are with the app. It is poorly developed, and displays incorrect data. Gas readings are sent in m^3, but displayed as kWh - this then means the usage amounts are significantly lower than reality.
Lumo does provide a tariff comparison within their app, but suggests that the lowest price available is also the price you would pay with Lumo. Having contacted Lumo (as cannot access plan amounts elsewhere) this is not the case. This could lead to many customers staying with Lumo due to misinformation and paying far more than necessary - Cheap Energy Club suggests I will save £156/year by switching!

Overall, I would rate Lumo 3/5. Price was good (because of the smart meter discounts). Service and app were poor.

TheHeatingEngineer

tjp253 wrote: »

...The main problems are with the app. It is poorly developed, and displays incorrect data. Gas readings are sent in m^3, but displayed as kWh - this then means the usage amounts are significantly lower than reality...

Is this really a criticism? Prices are based on kWh and not volume. The supplier knows the Calorific Value of the gas (CV) and can therefore calculate the heat used in kWh correctly. I wonder what you mean by "the usage amounts are significantly lower"?

Lumo tell me how many kWhs are used and that is what is paid for, and that's what the bill shows, is it not?

tjp253 wrote: »

...Lumo does provide a tariff comparison within their app, but suggests that the lowest price available is also the price you would pay with Lumo. Having contacted Lumo ... this is not the case. This could lead to many customers staying with Lumo due to misinformation and paying far more than necessary - Cheap Energy Club suggests I will save £156/year by switching!...

I feel that a far more rigorous numerical analysis here is required in order to be fair.

I would like to see the tariff figures that you think Lumo are supplying and the figures from the same tariff on your comparison website. A difference here is the only way that a difference in the comparison estimates can occur.

If you are correct then I want to know, but at the minute I wonder about the efficacy of your comments.

I feel it's unfair to talk in generalities with a negative review as readers can't judge properly from your comments.

tjp253

Is this really a criticism? Prices are based on kWh and not volume. The supplier knows the Calorific Value of the gas (CV) and can therefore calculate the heat used in kWh correctly. I wonder what you mean by "the usage amounts are significantly lower"?

Lumo tell me how many kWhs are used and that is what is paid for, and that's what the bill shows, is it not?

The bills are correct. I was specifying the app itself, which is supposed to give an indication of how much energy is used. Under the Meters tab, when I look at the previous readings for Gas, all Usage values are listed as kWh. They should actually be m^3.
This mistake is then carried over to the Usage tab. At the start of the month, estimated monthly usage shows as a reasonable value. However, due to misinterpreting m^3 as kWh, the estimated monthly usage gets smaller and smaller through the month. For example, it is currently displaying "89kWh" for November when the actual value is around 1033kWh (from my own monthly readings).

It does not affect me, but could mislead others.

I feel that a far more rigorous numerical analysis here is required in order to be fair.

I would like to see the tariff figures that you think Lumo are supplying and the figures from the same tariff on your comparison website. A difference here is the only way that a difference in the comparison estimates can occur.

If you are correct then I want to know, but at the minute I wonder about the efficacy of your comments.

Unfortunately, the forum is not allowing me to post links, so I cannot show screenshots.

Lumo have sent me a table of variable tariffs, and said I belong to region 11. Electricity: SC 21.40p, U 14.97p; Gas:SC 24.68p, U 3.30p.

According to Lumo, my top tariff available with the rest of the market is "Just Up Wk48" from Utility Point. Electricity: SC 14.371p, U 11.666p; Gas: SC 11.550p, U 2.723p.

Rounding my yearly usage: Elec: 1400 kWh, Gas: 7500 kWh.
Assuming 365 days a year gives the following annual prices:

Lumo: £582
Utility Point: £462

As you can see, Lumo comes out as £120 more expensive. Despite this, the app clearly states that Lumo is the same price as Utility Point.

TheHeatingEngineer

I am interested in your point but am not sure I follow yet. Please bear with me as I try to understand.

tjp253 wrote: »

... the app itself, which is supposed to give an indication of how much energy is used. Under the Meters tab, when I look at the previous readings for Gas, all Usage values are listed as kWh...

Just an observation - energy usage is typically calculated in kWh, so from that point of view the App is doing what it should.

Energy usage can only be specified in M^3 if the CV for gas is quoted as well otherwise it's volume and not energy.

tjp253 wrote: »

... They should actually be m^3.
This mistake is then carried over to the Usage tab. At the start of the month, estimated monthly usage shows as a reasonable value.

As you are questioning the prediction for the month ahead then I wonder if there are two possible ways for this to happen ie 1) you send in daily readings or 2) Lumo polls a smart meter for daily readings.

How is the data collected for continuously updating the prediction for the month ahead?

tjp253 wrote: »

However, due to misinterpreting m^3 as kWh, the estimated monthly usage gets smaller and smaller through the month. For example, it is currently displaying "89kWh" for November when the actual value is around 1033kWh (from my own monthly readings)...

If you are using 1033kWh per month you must have a mansion. That is 2/3 of my annual usage for a small flat.

How do you calculate 1033kWh? What is the volume use?

tjp253

The app takes the readings sent daily from my smart meters. I believe that the gas reading is sent in units of volume (which traditional meters displayed). This gas reading, as you rightly say, should then be multiplied by the CV to calculate the energy usage in kWh. It doesn't. It simply shows the letters "kWh" instead of "m^3".

The value of 1033 kWh was my gas usage for November. My indoor smart meter readout displays the meter reading in kWh (auto-multiplies by the CV). The November value was the reading on the 30th minus the reading on 31st October.
MSE suggests that 12,000 kWh is the UK average for annual gas usage - are you sure your usage is correct?

TheHeatingEngineer

tjp253 wrote: »

...MSE suggests that 12,000 kWh is the UK average for annual gas usage - are you sure your usage is correct?

Ah, you are right. I was thinking of my annual electricity usage = 1500kWh. My gas is under 5000kWh. Apologies for that confusion.

tjp253 wrote: »

The app takes the readings sent daily from my smart meters. I believe ... November value was the reading on the 30th minus the reading on 31st October.

So the App is displaying the numerical value of gas volume used but with units of kWh? Is that the case? If so, then the value is not being multiplied by the CV.

I wonder how the monthly usage estimate is calculated. I presume its CV * (Usage-to-date + Nmr-days-remaining-in-month * Average (Usage-to-date)) or similar.

I suggest you ask Lumo a question (see below) to see what they say about the App displaying numerical value of gas volume used but with units of kWh. They may confirm a fault and then fix it.

Or you may have an old version. What are you using? Mine is 1.0.2282 (Swipe home screen leftwards. Version number at the bottom of the screen). When I reported a problem they asked me to uninstall and reinstall.
=====Ask Lumo a question====
Start at Home screen
Tap menu icon (top right)
Tap Help
Tap My Lumo account
Open your browser if prompted
Tap How do I contact Lumo
Scroll to end of screen ...
...tap I still need help and complete the form. The shorter and more concise the question the prompter the reply.

HTH

tjp253

Thanks, but I wasn't after help. I have reported these issues to Lumo multiple times and they have not been resolved. Same version of the app as yourself (my PhD involves Android, but thanks for the quick guide nonetheless).

Lumo also have not given an explanation as to why their app is falsely saying that if I stayed with them on their variable tariff I would not be paying more than with any other provider.

These are the reasons why I posted on here originally. I feel people should know. Also, I believe Lumo should be chased up on how they are lying to potential customers about their tariff.

Again, I am not after help. I'm simply posting feedback to inform prospective customers of my experience (which I think is the point of this thread).

TheHeatingEngineer

tjp253 wrote: »

Thanks, but I wasn't after help. I have reported these issues to Lumo ...

It seems you have a valid criticism. I received this in a Lumo email yesterday :

"We got in touch recently to tell you that we’re replacing our app systems with the ones used by our sister brand, OVO Energy, so our team can help you better. Now it’s all systems go."

This may explain why they have not tried to fix the App.

The App does favour their own product for my situation too. But after doing a bit of research there are only pennies difference between the cheapest tariffs so it doesn't matter for me. Granted it may be a bigger difference for others though. But that shows how important it is to check the numbers and not just take the word of one company.