There are a few different ways that you can make this project work in your home. It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to complete and uses products that you likely already have laying around!

Our project is based on the concept of water displacement in your toilet tank. By placing an adequate object in your toilet’s tank, you can displace a large amount of water. Displacing water reduces the amount of water required to power your toilet with each flush. Therefore, your water displacement device will save you water and energy every single time you flush your toilet!

There are a few different water displacement rigs that you can easily create, using materials you probably already have on hand. This how-to from Don’t Waste the Crumbs explains how you can fill empty water bottles with sand—ideally three bottles in total. You can also sub out water bottles with a half-gallon container, like one you would get laundry detergent, fabric softener, or dishwashing liquid in. If you don’t have any sand, you can replace it with pebbles or gravel. You can even add water if it isn’t quite heavy enough, but don’t only fill it with water, as it will move around in your tank.

Once you have created your water displacement objects, installation is as simple as placing them in your toilet tanks. Be careful to leave all of the plumbing fixtures in place in your toilet tank when you do the installation, as you don’t want to break anything!

How you’ll save depends entirely on how much water you can displace, and on how many toilets are in your home and use. How much you have to pay for water will also be a factor. Regardless, these small amounts of savings will add up over time and save you energy in the long run. When you compare this to the very small amount of time and energy required to install your water displacement units, you’re in for some serious savings!

Click here to view other Bright Insights blog posts that have great energy efficiency advice!

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“In a compelling example of what Justice Louis Brandeis termed ‘states serving as laboratories of democracy,’ for nearly two decades, two retail electricity models, choice and monopoly, have operated in parallel, allowing reliable comparison of the two models on key indicators,” said COMPETE Counsel William Massey. “The data demonstrate that customer choice jurisdictions that steadily adapted and expanded retail choice out-perform, or at least compare favorably with, the states that have so far rejected broad-based customer market access.”

The study was released in conjunction with the summer meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, where the study’s academic approach and factual conclusions were welcomed by key state utility regulators.

Here are some of the highlights from the report:

• From 1997 through 2014, prices in customer choice jurisdictions increased 4.5% less than inflation, while prices in monopoly states increased 8.4% more than inflation. Electricity in monopoly states accounted for a larger share of the consumer cost of living in 2014 than in 1997, while electricity’s share of the consumer pocketbook in customer choice jurisdictions was less in 2014 than in 1997. Simply put, consumers in monopoly states had to dedicate more money to energy costs than in choice areas.
• From 2003-2013, accounts served by competitive suppliers increased 524% for commercial and industrial customers (C&I) and 636% for residential customers. This means having an energy choice is great for both businesses and customers, but slightly more so for the average energy consumer.
• From 2003-2014, electricity demand served by competitive suppliers surged even during a period of flat growth in consumption: 181% for C&I and 673% for residential. In other words, energy consumers want a competitive choice more than ever before!

All in all, energy choice locations outperformed monopoly areas, even when monopoly areas had more efficient technology!

You can find the full study at www.competecoalition.com.

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