Tenants pay double the grid rate for electricity and can't check building bills
A Phra Khanong renter pays 8 baht per unit while a friend with a direct meter pays about 4.5 baht, with a hot-season bill around 3,200 baht; the office says it can't change. A student was billed 1,274 baht for 182 units after leaving for a month with the breaker off. A Pantip owner says his building calculates and charges its own electricity.
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5 ways to tackle it
Hardware and sensors
Room Meter: a clip-on sensor that measures your own usage and proves your bill
A non-contact current clip on the room's breaker wire and an ESP32 log real kWh. The screen shows units used and what they cost at the building's 8 baht or at the 4.5 baht grid rate. When the building bills 182 units for a month the breaker was off, the tenant has the log.
Build with ESP32, SCT-013 current clip, ADS1115, OLED, Google Sheets log
Hardware and sensors
Aircon Saver: an IR blaster that runs your aircon cheaper and shows baht saved
An ESP32 with an IR LED learns the aircon remote, then runs a night curve: 26 degrees, fan low, off after 3 hours. The screen shows units and baht saved against last week at 8 baht per unit. A hot-season bill of 3,200 baht gets visibly smaller.
Build with ESP32, IR LED and receiver, DHT22, OLED, Google Sheets
Camera and vision
Meter Proof: a dated meter photo on the first of every month that checks your bill
On the first of each month the tenant photographs the meter, and Claude vision reads and stores it with the date and place. When the bill arrives, the page compares the units billed with the units the photos show. A 1,274 baht bill for a month away jumps out right away.
Build with Claude vision, Next.js PWA, Supabase, monthly reminder via calendar
AI agent
Proof Packet Agent: builds the one-page evidence sheet to show the building office
The agent takes the meter photos, the bill and the lease line about electricity, and writes a one-page packet in Thai: units, rate charged, expected cost, the difference. The tenant brings the same page to the juristic office, so the argument is about numbers, not feelings.
Build with Claude, Meter Proof data, PDF generator, Next.js
Data and maps
Rate Radar: check the baht-per-unit a building really charges before you sign
Tenants upload a photo of the bill line and the page reads the baht-per-unit rate and the building. A renter hunting for a room sees 'this building 8.0, this one 4.8, the area is 5.6'. The markup becomes a visible number before the deposit, not after the first bill.
Build with Claude vision on bills, Next.js, Supabase, Google Maps
What people reported
8 baht per unit vs about 4.5 on a direct meter; 3,200 baht hot-season bill
reddit.comStudent charged 1,274 baht for 182 units while away
reddit.comOwner says the building calculates its own electricity rate; no grid meter transfer
pantip.com