The $400 Electric Bill on a 2,000 Sq Ft Home: Why Windows Are the Culprit
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When Justin McKenzie, host of The Building Texas Show, sat down with Gabby and Jonathan at the San Antonio Home and Garden Show, the conversation quickly turned to a striking comparison: a rental under 2,000 square feet with a $400 to $500 monthly electric bill, versus a 3,200 square foot new build in San Antonio with a bill of just $150 to $200. Jonathan’s diagnosis was blunt: it’s the windows.
Gabby and Jonathan own First Choice Windows and Home Exteriors, a locally owned company in a city Gabby calls “the home of small businesses.” Yet when she went looking for a locally owned window shop, she couldn’t find a single one. That gap inspired them to build an alternative.
The episode explores why even new builds, including million-dollar Toll Brothers homes fitted with Ply Gem windows, may not deliver the quality buyers assume. Jonathan explains how blower door and pressure tests can expose air loss through doors and windows, and he offers a simple homeowner test that requires no tools: “Just standing next to the window during the summer... if you’re feeling that heat come through or if you’re feeling that cold front come through, it’s probably necessary to get something done.”
Gabby recalls the moment the math clicked for her after moving into their sunnier, larger new build: “That’s like a $300 difference in this bill here. And he was like, it’s the windows. And I was like, are you serious?” The couple also warns homeowners away from DIY installations, insisting windows are not a do-it-yourself project.
The conversation digs into craftsmanship gaps in modern construction, the counterweight-and-rope mechanisms still hiding in 1940s, 50s, and 60s wood windows around San Antonio, and the leak calls that followed heavy rain events, including flooding in Kerrville. Jonathan, whose father has run a fence, patio cover, and concrete business for more than 30 years, explains why First Choice sells name brands like Andersen and Pella at lower prices: no 75-truck fleet, no 20 offices, and lower marketing overhead. Gabby, who left a corporate learning and development role in multifamily property management to build the back end of the company, frames the mission as keeping home improvement affordable for buyers already stretched by a 30-year mortgage.
The company has also expanded from First Choice Window Solutions into siding, sunrooms, fences, and a roofing partnership with Texas Roof Guardians. More information can be found at firstchoicewindowsolutions.com.