ĪreiRīga Tips for tenants

Utility bills: what a month costs in winter and in summer

Updated 05.10.2026.

The rent is only part of what you pay each month. In a series-built apartment block in Rīga, a winter month can cost almost twice as much as a summer month, mainly because of heating. Who pays which bill is set by the tenancy agreement (Dzīvojamo telpu īres likums (Residential Tenancy Law), article 11).

What the bill is made of

Building management (apsaimniekošanas maksa). A fee for maintaining the building: cleaning the stairwells, lighting, the lift if there is one, the emergency service. For a five-storey building without a lift, the calculator of Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks (RNP) for new clients gives about 0.64 euros per m² a month including VAT (our own calculation with the RNP calculator, 05.10.2026).

Reserve fund (uzkrājumu fonds). Money for repairs to the building; in RNP buildings on average 0.45 euros per m² a month (RNP, 07.04.2026). These costs are paid to the manager by the owner of the flat (Dzīvokļa īpašuma likums (Residential Property Law), article 13). Whether the tenant pays them back or they are included in the rent is set by the agreement (Residential Tenancy Law, article 10, paragraph 2, and article 11). Check your agreement.

Heating. The biggest winter cost. The Rīgas siltums tariff from 1 October 2026 is 80.96 euros per MWh excluding VAT (SPRK, 30.09.2026); with 12% VAT (VID) it is about 90.68 euros. In September the Ministry of Economics warned that from December the tariff may rise by 20 to 30% because of the gas price (EM, 24.09.2026). RNP starts the heating season when for at least three days in a row the air does not warm above +14 °C and at some point cools to +8 °C; in 2026 it plans to start connecting buildings on 12 October (RNP, 05.10.2026; NRA, 05.10.2026). The owners in a building can agree to divide heating by the floor area of the flats or by heat meters or heat cost allocators in the flats (Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 524, points 17 and 19).

Hot water circulation. You pay for this in summer too, because hot water circulates through the pipes all the time. It is a separate type of heat consumption (Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 524, point 18), and it appears on the summer bill (Rīga municipality, 28.01.2026). The example below assumes 0.1 MWh per flat a month, which is about 9 euros.

Water. The Rīgas ūdens tariff from 1 December 2025 is 3.23 euros per m³ including VAT (water and sewerage), and from 2027 it is 3.28 euros (Rīgas ūdens; SPRK decision No. 86 of 30.10.2025). For hot water, heating the water is added, and its price changes every month (Rīga municipality, 28.01.2026).

Waste. In Rīga the charge depends on the zone: from 1 October 2026 it is 25.25 to 28.53 euros per m³ excluding VAT (Rīga municipality, 23.09.2026). In a building the costs are divided by the number of flats, by the undivided share (domājamā daļa), by the number of residents or by the number of declared persons (Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 524, point 4).

Electricity. You pay the supplier and Sadales tīkls (the distribution network). For a single-phase 16 A connection on the basic tariff, the fixed part from Sadales tīkls is 5.44 euros a month excluding VAT, 6.58 euros with 21% VAT, and the variable part is about 0.0479 euros per kWh including VAT (Sadales tīkls, 2026). For a one-room flat using 150 kWh a month, the bill is about 31 to 39 euros, depending on the supplier's price (our own calculation with Elektrum and Sadales tīkls prices).

Internet. From about 10 to 20 euros a month; the cheapest offers usually come with a 24-month contract (Tet, Balticom, LMT, accessed 05.10.2026).

Example: 35 m², unrenovated building from 1977 to 1992, one person

This is our calculation from the prices above, not a real bill. Assumptions: 122 kWh for heating per m² a year (the average for unrenovated buildings of this period in Rīga, data.gov.lv), heating spread over the months according to climate norms, a normal January, 3.3 m³ of water of which 1.3 m³ hot, 0.1 MWh for circulation, about 5 euros for waste, 150 kWh of electricity.

ItemJanuaryJuly
Heating (about 0.83 MWh)about 74 euros0
Circulationabout 9 eurosabout 9 euros
Heating hot waterabout 7 eurosabout 7 euros
Water and sewerageabout 11 eurosabout 11 euros
Building managementabout 22 eurosabout 22 euros
Reserve fundabout 16 eurosabout 16 euros
Wasteabout 5 eurosabout 5 euros
Electricityabout 39 eurosabout 39 euros
Internetabout 15 eurosabout 15 euros
Totalabout 197 eurosabout 123 euros

If the tariff rises from December as forecast, the January total could be 215 to 225 euros. If the owner pays building management and the reserve fund, subtract about 38 euros. In a renovated building (about 65 kWh per m² a year), heating in January is roughly half. A very cold month costs more: in January 2026, heat consumption in Rīga was 60% higher than in December (Rīga municipality, 11.02.2026).

How to estimate before you sign

  1. Ask for last winter's bills, at least for January and February, and one summer bill.
  2. Look up the building's heat consumption. Rīgas siltums and GEO RĪGA publish the "Siltuma karte" (Heat map), which shows for every apartment building its energy efficiency class from A to F, its consumption per m² a year and the year of renovation.
  3. Ask how heating is divided: by floor area, with a heat meter or with allocators on the radiators.
  4. Find out what is included in the rent: building management, the reserve fund, waste, internet.
  5. Ask about the electricity contract: whether it stays in the owner's name and you pay by the meter, or you take out your own.

Sources