How to manage power and generator costs in your Nigerian shortlet
Clavibase
Your guests checked out this morning. The apartment looks fine, the review will probably be good, and the booking felt profitable. Then the caretaker sends a message: the generator drank two jerrycans over the weekend, the prepaid meter is almost empty, and the inverter batteries never fully recharged because the AC ran all night.
For many Nigerian shortlet hosts, power is the biggest running cost that nobody prices properly. Rent, cleaning, and toiletries are easy to see. Fuel, meter units, and battery wear are spread across many small payments, so they quietly eat into every booking.
This guide shows you how to work out what power actually costs you per night, build it into your rates, set sensible limits, and talk to guests about it without sounding stingy.
Why power costs catch hosts out
Power costs are hard to track because they come from several places at once:
- Grid electricity (still called NEPA by most guests), bought as prepaid units or billed monthly;
- Generator fuel, bought in cash, often by a caretaker, in whatever quantity is needed that day;
- Inverter and solar systems, which feel free day to day but cost money in battery replacement and maintenance;
- Generator servicing, such as oil changes, plugs, and repairs.
Each is manageable alone. The trouble is that few hosts add them up per stay, so the nightly rate follows competitors rather than what each night costs to run.
Know your band and your meter
Start with the grid, because it decides how much you need everything else.
Under the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Service-Based Tariff, customers are grouped into Bands A to E by the minimum average hours of supply their feeder is expected to deliver: at least 20 hours a day for Band A, then 16, 12, 8, and 4 hours for Bands B to E (NERC). Band A pays a higher rate per kilowatt-hour for that promise.
For a shortlet, this matters in two ways:
- Your band sets your backup bill. A Band A apartment that genuinely gets close to 20 hours may only need the generator for short gaps. A Band D apartment may need backup for half the day.
- Your band may be wrong. If you are paying a Band A rate but getting far fewer hours, keep a simple log of outages and raise it with your DisCo. NERC’s framework allows for feeders that consistently miss their band to be reviewed.
Your current tariff is printed on your prepaid vending receipt or your bill. Check it there rather than relying on an old figure from a friend or a news story, because rates are reviewed.
If the apartment still has an estimated (postpaid) bill, push for a prepaid meter. A prepaid meter lets you see exactly how many units a stay used, which makes everything else in this guide easier.
Work out what power costs per night
You can’t price power properly until you know roughly what a night costs. Use your own receipts from the last two or three months.
A worked example
The figures below are illustrative round numbers, not current tariffs or pump prices. Replace every one with your own.
Imagine a two-bedroom apartment that gets about 12 hours of grid supply a day, with a petrol generator covering the evening gap.
| Cost item | Illustrative figure | Per night |
|---|---|---|
| Prepaid units used per night | ₦4,000 | ₦4,000 |
| Generator running time | 6 hours | |
| Fuel use | 1.5 litres per hour × 6 hours = 9 litres | |
| Fuel cost | 9 litres × ₦1,500 per litre | ₦13,500 |
| Servicing and repairs, spread across nights | ₦2,000 | ₦2,000 |
| Total power cost | ₦19,500 |
On a ₦60,000 nightly rate, that is nearly a third of your revenue going to power before you pay for cleaning, rent, or platform fees. If you set the rate without knowing that number, you could be running busy weekends at a much thinner margin than you think.
To get your own figures:
- Read the prepaid meter at check-in and checkout for a few stays and note the difference.
- Ask whoever buys fuel to write down litres and amount every time.
- Divide your last service and repair costs by the number of nights booked in that period.
Price power into your rates
Once you know your cost per night, you have three practical options.
1. Build it into the nightly rate. Guests see one price and don’t worry about the generator. Raise your rate by your average power cost, plus a margin for heavy users. It is the simplest option and avoids arguments at checkout.
2. Include power with a fair-use limit. Keep power in the rate, but set clear limits, for example generator hours, or a set number of prepaid units included per night. Guests who use more top up the meter themselves or pay a small agreed amount.
3. Charge power separately. Some hosts quote a lower room rate and add a fixed daily power or diesel charge. This can work for long stays and corporate guests, but it can look like a hidden fee on a short weekend booking. If you do it, state it at the first quote, never at the gate.
Whichever you choose, review it whenever fuel prices or your tariff change. A rate that covered power six months ago may not cover it now.
Cap usage without punishing guests
Limits work best when they are built into the apartment rather than enforced by message.
- Set generator hours. For example, generator from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., with the inverter covering the gap. Publish the hours.
- Protect the inverter. Label sockets that should not be used on backup, and keep heavy appliances such as irons, kettles, microwaves, and water heaters off inverter circuits where possible.
- Use timers and smart plugs. A timer on the water heater and a smart plug on the AC in an empty room stop the most common waste.
- Fit efficient appliances. Inverter ACs, LED bulbs, and a gas cooker reduce load on every power source.
- Consider solar for the base load. A solar and inverter setup can cover lights, fans, Wi-Fi, the fridge, and TV, so the generator is only needed for AC. Get a proper load assessment from a reputable installer before buying, because an undersized system just drains batteries faster.
Tell guests how power works
Guests rarely waste power on purpose; usually nobody told them how your setup works. Explain it before they arrive:
Power at the apartment: we have [public supply on a prepaid meter], with the generator running from [time] to [time] and inverter backup at other times. On inverter, please run only one AC and avoid the iron, kettle, and microwave. Kindly switch off the AC and water heater when you go out. If the inverter beeps, please send me a message.
Then repeat the key points on a small card beside the changeover switch or inverter. If you include a set amount of power, say so clearly:
Your stay includes [number] units of electricity per night. If you need more, you can top up the meter using the meter number on the card, or let me know and I’ll arrange it.
Be honest in your listing too. If the generator doesn’t run all night, don’t write “24/7 power”. A guest who expected round-the-clock AC will remember that in the review.
Log fuel and power per stay
A simple log turns guesswork into numbers. Keep a shared sheet or notebook with one line per stay:
- guest name and dates;
- meter reading at check-in and checkout;
- fuel bought (litres and amount) and generator hours run;
- any inverter or generator problems.
After a month, you will see which stays used the most power and whether your rate covers the cost. A sudden jump in fuel use can also flag a faulty generator, a leak, or fuel going missing.
If you run more than one apartment, keep a separate log for each. Power costs can differ a lot between two buildings on the same street because they sit on different feeders.
Where Clavibase fits
Clavibase does not track your fuel or meter units, so the log above stays in your own sheet or notebook. What it does is keep the booking side organised, so your power log has something reliable to line up against.
Clavibase gives you one calendar across your properties, so you can match each log entry to the exact stay and unit. Your direct booking storefront lets guests see your rate and pay without waiting for your reply, which makes a power-inclusive price clear from the start. If you take a caution fee through Clavibase, you can release it or make a claim for genuine damage after checkout, such as a damaged inverter or generator from misuse. If you do neither, the guest gets an automatic full refund about 48 hours later through Paystack. Keep routine power use in your rate, and save the caution fee for real damage.
The short version
Find out what power costs you per night using your own meter readings and fuel receipts. Build that cost into your rate, or include a clear allowance, and review it whenever prices change. Cut waste with set generator hours, protected inverter circuits, and timers. Explain your power setup to guests before they arrive, and log every stay so your numbers stay honest.