Electricity, water and Wi-Fi: what the bills cost in a Bali rental (2026)

Nightly rates in Bali include everything. Monthly rates usually do not, and the gap between the rent you agreed and the amount you actually pay catches almost every first-time long-stayer. Here is what the bills look like.

Electricity: the big one

On monthly contracts electricity is almost always metered and billed separately. Indonesian household electricity is sold in tariff bands, and villas often run on a prepaid token meter where you top up as you go. The variable is air conditioning:

• One bedroom, AC at night only: commonly around 700,000 to 1,500,000 IDR a month.
• Two bedrooms with AC plus a pool pump and a water heater: often 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 IDR.
• AC running 24 hours in several rooms: can go well beyond that.

Treat these as orders of magnitude, not quotes. What matters is that you know before you sign whether electricity is included, capped or fully metered.

How to avoid the classic dispute

• Photograph the meter on check-in day with the date visible, and send it to the manager. This single photo prevents most arguments, as the deposit guide explains.
• Fix the tariff or price per kilowatt-hour in the agreement, not just the phrase paid separately.
• If the rent includes an electricity allowance, get the allowance in numbers.
• Check whether the pool pump and garden lights are on your meter or the owner's.

Water and drinking water

Mains or well water for showers and washing is cheap and usually included. You cannot drink it. Households buy 19-litre gallons of drinking water, refilled for roughly 20,000 IDR, and a couple goes through a few a month. Ask whether the first gallon and the dispenser are provided, and whether delivery is arranged.

Gas, rubbish and pool service

• Gas. Kitchens run on refillable LPG cylinders, a modest cost every few weeks. Confirm who swaps them.
• Rubbish collection. A small local fee, usually the owner's responsibility on managed villas.
• Pool and garden. On managed properties this is normally included and happens weekly. Unmanaged long lets sometimes push it to the tenant, which is a real workload.
• Cleaning. Daily, twice weekly or weekly, which changes the rent. Get the frequency in writing.

Internet

Fibre is normal in developed areas and usually included in the rent. What varies is speed and reliability: wireless links sag in heavy rain, and shared connections slow down in the evening. If you work online, ask for a live speed test from inside the villa before paying, and keep a local SIM with a data package as a backup. The method is in the nomad housing guide and the SIM guide.

Budgeting rule of thumb

For a one-bedroom pool villa with sensible AC use, add roughly 80 to 150 dollars a month on top of the rent for all utilities combined. For a family villa, assume more. Those numbers belong in your overall budget, which we work through in the monthly cost of living guide, and they vary with the season and the area: humid months mean more AC, as the February notes suggest, and cooler Ubud needs less of it than coastal Canggu. Anything still unclear is covered in the FAQ.

Why this is easier direct

Platforms hide the utilities question entirely and still add 15 to 25 percent to the rent. Renting direct from the owner means the agreement spells out what is metered, at what rate, with the meter reading recorded on day one. See how it is written up in the rentals catalogue, or read what belongs in the contract.