We live in Texas also. The last house we had, we ran the temp at 81 constantly and the electric bill was still $300 one August. So, we paid $15k and replaced the entire A/C, conden.. ALL of it.. heater too. The only thing we kept was the ducting. We had all the ducts re-sealed, house pressure tested and sealed (even the electrical sockets were tested for leaks). We replaced the external doors with better ones, and we had the ENTIRE attic, including over the garage, sprayed with R49, more than required. We had radiant barrier sprayed into the entire attic as well. The loan cost us like $105 a month. The electric bill dropped to about $120 a month on the hottest days and that was with us running the temp at 74-76. In the winter, we had the electric bill below $60. Best money we ever spent. R

During the summer months, my electrci bill runs between $50 to $90 per month. Its about $30 more when the air conditioner runs (whole house A/C). Before I got A/C, I ran a dehumidifier in the basement. It had a problem of freezing up. I found that was due to too much humidity coupled with the cooler basement air. The solution was to raise is a couple of feet off the floor. Since the basement can not be tightly sealed away from the rest of the house, it gets to be a loosing proposition because the humidity continues to be replenished from upstairs. Whole house A/C was the answer. It reduces the temperature difference between the basement and upper floor and effectively dries the air. Whats more, the A/C does not use much more electricity than a humidifier and fans in the upper floor. To a small degree, it reduces the load of the refrigerator and freezer since their ambient air temp is lowered. I've been lucky this summer. I used the A/C for two weeks in June and none since. However, August is coming and I can expect to start it again. Around here, the first 3 weeks of August can be like July.

The local shelters opened only at 2:00 p.m. today. We will begin our drive to Alabama about 6:00 a.m. Sunday. I have a hotel reservation for one night. If we leave Alabama on Monday mid-morning, we will be home before dark. The local weather folks just indicated that the winds will be only 30 mph or so by that time. They are predicting 6" - 8" of rain. We are far enough inland that a storm surge is not relevant. The missus has been getting with our neighbors and we are the only ones not staying in place. Even after canvasing the neighbors, the missus made the decision to leave. We'll probably have some weather issues on the way back on Monday, but everything will have passed by then. Fortunately, I had a triple oak tree removed this summer. It would drop branches with a wind of less than 15 mph. Not an issue now.

I will say I do not know of anyone who has painted their garage the same colour as their house. White or not. The garage is always in a trim colour. Maybe it's a style difference between regions but it just doesn't happen here. Dark coloured houses almost always have white or cream trim with the same colour garage door. Unless they are expensive and do a wood look door. My mother used to have a saying something to the effect of everyone jumping off a cliff. You can do what everyone else does, or you can start your own design trend.