An ESP32-SDM120-MQTT system deployed in eight Mae Ta Man homes achieved 90% average transmission success and identified phantom loads of 12-15% of daily use. Following feedback, peak use fell 14.8% and phantom waste 43.1%.
Key findings
- Latency was 8.32, 9.49 and 10.23 ms for QoS 0-2; peaks occurred at 08:00-10:00 and 18:00-20:00. Data loss reached 45% during congestion, while peak use fell 14.8% (95% CI 11.2-18.4) and phantom load 43.1%.
Why this matters globally
A low-cost hybrid network may help rural communities visualise consumption and design demand response without continuous high-speed connectivity.
Thai researcher contribution
The Thai team built and field-deployed the system in challenging terrain, linking engineering performance with household energy behaviour.
Limitations to consider
Only eight uncontrolled homes were observed, follow-up detail is limited, and peak data loss reached 45%. Before-after changes are vulnerable to regression to the mean and time-varying confounding.