Short answer: electricity is the line that turns a cheap villa into an expensive one — 600,000–2,500,000 IDR a month, and aircon is the whole variable. Power cuts are frequent enough to plan for and take your wifi with them. Tap water is not drinkable, and on the Bukit the water supply itself is a genuine question.
Five questions before you sign a lease decide whether a place works. They are at the end of this page.
Last checked: 13 August 2026. Prices in Indonesian rupiah.
What utilities cost monthly
| Item | Monthly IDR | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity, minimal aircon | 600,000–1,000,000 | Fans, fridge, normal use |
| Electricity, aircon at night | 1,200,000–2,000,000 | The common case |
| Electricity, aircon + pool pump + bad insulation | 2,000,000–3,000,000+ | The trap |
| Water (mains, where available) | Usually included | |
| Water (delivered, Bukit and rural) | 200,000–800,000 | |
| Drinking water, 19 L gallons | 60,000–150,000 | 3–5 gallons a month for one person |
| Gas (LPG bottle refill) | 25,000–50,000 | Lasts weeks for light cooking |
| Internet (villa fibre, where separate) | 300,000–600,000 | Usually included in rent |
| Pool service | 300,000–700,000 | |
| Cleaning, 2–3× weekly | 400,000–1,500,000 | |
| Rubbish collection | 50,000–150,000 | Sometimes a village fee |
Electricity — the villa trap
This is the single most expensive thing people miss when comparing rentals.
Electricity is frequently billed separately, and the amount depends almost entirely on aircon plus insulation. A villa with single glazing, thin walls, a partly tin roof and a room you cool overnight will add 1.5–2.5 million IDR a month.
Which means a 10 million IDR villa with bad insulation costs more than a 12 million one that is built properly.
Ask to see a recent bill. Not an estimate — an actual bill. A landlord who will not show you one is telling you something.
What actually drives the number:
- Aircon overnight — by far the largest.
- Pool pump — runs for hours daily.
- Water pump — if the property is on a tank system.
- Water heater, particularly instant electric ones.
- Insulation and orientation. A villa that catches the afternoon sun on an uninsulated west wall costs more to cool.
Prepaid vs postpaid meters: many Bali properties use a prepaid token meter — you buy credit and enter a code. Running out at 11pm is a normal Bali experience. Top up through Alfamart, Indomaret or a banking app, and keep the meter number saved.
Power cuts
Frequent enough to build a habit around, usually short — minutes to an hour — and almost never announced.
More common: in wet season, during storms, outside the main south Bali grid, and in rural and highland areas.
What they take with them: the wifi, unless the property has a generator with the router on it. Most do not.
The playbook:
- Keep your phone above 40% on call days. Hotspot drains fast and you cannot charge during a cut.
- A power bank is the cheapest insurance here — 200,000–400,000 IDR.
- Know your data balance. A one-hour video call is roughly 1–2 GB.
- Have a second location you can reach in ten minutes on a different grid or ISP.
- Surge protection. Cuts and restorations come with spikes; a cheap surge protector for a laptop and router is worth it over a long stay.
See internet in Bali for the full connectivity stack.
Water
Tap water is not drinkable. Everyone here uses one of three options:
| Option | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 19 L refill gallons | 20,000–40,000 each | What residents use; delivered or collected |
| Refill stations | A few thousand per litre | Bring your own bottle; best on waste |
| Bottled water | Most expensive | Worst option in a place with a visible waste problem |
Ice at established cafés and restaurants is made from filtered water and is fine. At the very cheapest roadside stalls, use judgement.
Pressure and supply: many properties run on pumps and roof tanks rather than mains pressure, so a pump failure or an empty tank stops the shower. Test the pressure and the hot water when you view.
On the Bukit specifically: the peninsula is limestone with no rivers, so many properties rely on bore wells or delivered water, and supply is less reliable in dry season. Ask what the source is and whether it has run short. See renting on the Bukit.
Internet as a utility
Treat it as one, because it is the thing that decides whether a villa is workable.
- Fibre vs wireless link. Wireless degrades badly in heavy rain; fibre does not. This is the question.
- Test in the room you would work in, at 8pm, and record download, upload and latency. Upload and latency break calls.
- Ask how many units share the line.
- Ask about the generator, as above.
- Carry a backup eSIM, 100,000–250,000 IDR a month.
Damp, mould and the tropical tax on your things
Not a utility exactly, but it belongs in the same conversation.
Poorly ventilated rooms grow mould on wardrobe interiors, bathroom ceilings, leather and camera gear — worse inland in Ubud than on the coast, and worse in wet season.
Fixes, in order: cross-ventilation first, aircon on dry mode second, a dehumidifier (800,000–1,500,000 IDR) if you are staying months in a shaded inland place, silica packs in wardrobes, and airing laundry before storing it.
See wet season in Bali and renting in Ubud.
The five questions before you sign
- Is electricity included? Can I see a recent bill?
- What is the water source — mains, bore well, or delivery? Has it run short?
- Is the internet fibre or a wireless link? Test it in the work room at 8pm.
- Is there a generator, and is the router on it?
- What else is billed separately — cleaning, pool, rubbish, gas?
Five questions, two minutes, and they determine whether the rent you agreed is the rent you pay.
The honest negatives
- Aircon is expensive and in wet season it is also how you keep mould down. There is no free version of that trade.
- Prepaid meters run out at inconvenient times.
- Water pumps fail, and the fix is on the landlord's timetable rather than yours.
- Rural and highland areas have more cuts and thinner infrastructure — see Sidemen and north Bali.
- Bills are frequently opaque. Ask for the meter reading rather than accepting a number.
- Ants, geckos and damp get into electronics. Sealed containers and airflow.
Where the money leaks
Two specific leaks: an unquoted electricity bill on a villa that looked cheap, and paying for bottled water instead of refills.
Then the structural one that runs through everything here: villas are 40–60% cheaper monthly than nightly and another 20–30% for long stays, scooters at 700,000–1,200,000 IDR a month against 70,000–100,000 a day, gym and studio weekly passes 30–50% below drop-ins, and spa slots in the empty 1–4pm window at 30–50% off.
Last Call Bali tracks what venues across Canggu, Pererenan, Ubud, Seminyak, Uluwatu and Sanur are discounting right now, with a direct WhatsApp line to the venue. No commission, no booking fee, no card details.
See what's discounted near you today →
Related
- Monthly rent in Bali by area
- Renting in Canggu · Ubud · the Bukit
- Internet in Bali: eSIM and backup
- Wet season in Bali
- Everyday service prices in Bali
- Cost of living in Bali
How this page is verified
Utility cost bands come from residents' actual bills across Canggu, Ubud, Sanur and the Bukit rather than from landlord estimates, which are consistently optimistic, and are re-verified quarterly.
The Bukit water section is included because the geology there genuinely differs — limestone with no rivers — and it is the question most likely to make an otherwise good villa difficult. It appears in almost no rental listing and in almost no area guide.
