Every place I've seen it so far either the machine is broke or it's made from concentrate or some s**t

New to the area and just got my electricity bill for May at $288 for 1,960 KWHs. 2200 sq. ft. single story home built in 1981. Was keeping it set to 76 during the day and 70 at night from about 10pm - 8am. Extremely minimal lighting and electronics usage. Water heater is gas. I have a pool and the pump runs 8 hours a day and based on some rough calculations it's costing me $34 dollars a month. So without pool energy usage was around $254.

Is this just a welcome to Houston thing or do I have some insulation or potentially some other issue? I've never paid bills in a place this big but that seems pretty high. Interested to know what others are paying.

I'll take company suggestions as well but I'd rather find a solo or small outfit. I swear the big ones never do a great job and charge a lot more for their overhead. Can PM me details.

The spots where you can go with a group and eat a king's variety without breaking the bank.

How is it getting downtown during the evenings and weekends generally? How are the restaurants? It looks to be decently forested. Are there any good trails nearby? Any crime to speak of? It's not too far from Greenspoint on the map. Thanks for the input!

It's a little further away from the "action" (top restaurants and attractions) than I'd like but there seems to be a good amount of restaurants etc in the area. Thanks for your opinions!

Looking for a strategic location to live for access to Memorial Park/Buffalo Bayou, Montrose area, and Chinatown area restaurants. Seems like having Galleria nearby could be useful as well though I'm not a big shopper.