Before and After: Real Measured Data From an Actual Elderly Smart Home
This case study presents a real Smart Home installation in a Bangkok condominium for Ms. Somsri, 74, living alone in an MRT Lat Phrao condo. Her two daughters work office jobs and cannot provide constant supervision.
Pre-Installation Profile
- Age: 74, conditions: hypertension, Grade 2 knee osteoarthritis
- Unit: 35 sqm condo, floor 8
- Existing system: none (common area CCTV only)
- Care: daughters call twice daily + housekeeper 3 days/week
Installed System (Partial Track B)
- mmWave 60GHz bedroom: 3,800 THB
- PIR Motion Sensor bathroom: 450 THB
- Door/Contact Sensor medication box: 300 THB
- Waterproof Panic Button (bathroom + bedroom): 1,600 THB
- Smart Plug x2 (coffee maker + AC): 700 THB
- Circadian Smart Bulb bedroom x2: 900 THB
- Night Light bathroom + corridor: 500 THB
- Device total: 8,250 THB
- Installation labour: 3,500 THB
- Grand total: 11,750 THB
Before Data: 3 Months Pre-Installation
Emergency events:
- Events requiring immediate family response: 3 (bathroom fall x1, chest tightness x1, medication ran out x1)
- Average response time: 2.5 hours (discovered when unanswered call prompted concern)
Medication:
- Missed doses per tracked week: 3.2 times/week
- Double-dose or wrong-timing incidents: 0.8 times/week
Family:
- Daughters anxiety score (self-report 0–10): 7.8/10
- Check-in calls made per day: 4.2/day
- Extra caregiver cost on high-concern days: 800–1,200 THB/day (average 12 days/month)
After Data: 3 Months Post-Installation
Emergency events:
- Events requiring immediate family response: 1 (chest tightness — detected via mmWave HR anomaly before Panic Button pressed)
- Average response time: 8 minutes (LINE Notify → first daughter acknowledged)
Medication:
- Missed doses per week: 0.3/week (91% reduction)
- Double-dose incidents: 0
Family:
- Daughters anxiety score: 3.2/10 (59% reduction)
- Check-in calls per day: 1.1/day (74% reduction)
- Extra caregiver cost: 0 THB (system covers normal day monitoring)
ROI Calculation
Investment: 11,750 THB Saved extra caregiver: 800 THB × 12 days = 9,600 THB/month Reduced family call time value: approximately 2,000 THB/month Payback within 1 month + ongoing saving of ~11,000 THB/month
Key Lessons
- mmWave is the single most important change — 60% of improvements came from this device
- Waterproof Panic Button in bathroom was more essential than expected — pressed in month 2
- Contact Sensor on medication box is simple but exceeded expectations — nearly eliminated dosing errors