We recently set up a clothesline again to dry the laundry. The components in our system are 150 feet of clothesline, a couple of spreaders, and some clothespins. Instead of the large aluminum or plastic gin pulleys normally used with "long-distance" lines, we substituted a couple of old Harken blocks with ball bearings from our trove of sailing gear. In that spirit we also use a rolling hitch to tighten the system. But there are ready-made line-tighteners that work fine, too.
An electric clothes dryer typically uses about 5000 watts. If you run the dryer for, say, three hours a week, that's 15 kilowatt-hours. Where we live, 15 kWh costs about $3.30. Multiplied by 52 weeks, it's over $170 a year just to dry the clothes. Better to do it for free and have the clothes fresher.
Of course, there are plenty of variations on the theme. You can dry on a shorter, multiple-line system, or an umbrella-style frame. You can dry indoors on a retractable line or rack. Et cetera. Here's a link to The Clothesline Shop. They seem to have just about anything you might need.
~ Doug Logan, New Energy Watch
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