Energy costs continue to rise, and summer time is no exception when it comes to wasted energy around the home.  Most households add an airconditioner to their electrical consumption around this time of year, which adds quite a bit more to your bill in the end.  The smart home owner will be looking for ways to offset the additional energy use, and one such way is to stop using your dryer and opt for using a clothesline or drying rack to dry your clothing outside in the fresh summer breeze!

Running a clothes dryer costs the average household about $130 per year.  Chop six months out of that number and it becomes a much nicer $65 bucks a year.

Clotheslines come in a variety of styles.  The simplest form being to simply tie a rope between two tall items such as trees or fence posts.  This is very simple, but it doesn’t have the added convenience of having a pulley which allows you to remain in one spot while you hang your laundry.   Pulley clothesline systems are very basic as well,  usually consiting of just a couple posts, a long nylon cord and a couple of pulleys.  These systems are particularly useful for the elderly or people who otherwise have trouble getting around.

Another method of air drying your laundry is to use a Clothes Rack.  These also are pretty simple contraptions that can be either permanent fixtures in your yard, or they can be set up and taken down for storage.  The bonus of using a clothes drying rack is that if you get one that is collapsable, you can use it both indoors and outdoors to efficiently dry laundry – ALL YEAR LONG!  Thats right, get yourself a small sized rack and you can set it up in your laundry room, indoors and put a fan on it to avoid using that pesky dryer even in the winter!