• Even the simplest of clotheslines can reduce your energy bill.vacation image by feisty from Fotolia.com
  
  According to the Project Laundry List website, line drying clothes can shave more than $25 from your monthly electric bill. Additionally, line drying conserves energy and reduces the need for added chemicals to disinfect and refresh your clothes. Not all households have the ability to place a large clothesline outdoors, but a number of styles of clothesline make it possible for you to choose one that fits your home’s needs.
  
  

Pole-to-Pole

• The pole-to-pole clothesline, also known as the T-post clothesline, consists of two sets of heavy-duty poles, often in the shape of a “T,” set a distance apart, usually outside. Clothesline wire extends from one set of poles to the other, and clothes hang from the wire to dry.
  
  

Umbrella

• An umbrella clothesline resembles an umbrella turned inside-out. A single, strong pole extends up from the ground, and a number of smaller poles stick out from the top of the central pole. Several expanses of clothesline wire extend from one smaller pole to the next.
  
  

Line-and-Pulley

• You can install the line-and-pulley clothesline either indoors or outdoors. Two anchor points house pulleys, and clothesline extends between the two pulleys. Using a line-and-pulley clothesline, you can stand in one place while hanging clothes and pull the line to move the loaded line away and bring empty line closer.
  
  

Retractable

• Retractable clotheslines can be as simple as a clothesline tied to two trees set a distance apart, with one end untied when the clothesline is not in use, or they can be complex, multiline systems. These systems, when not extended, look like a single bar hanging on the wall. As you pull the bar, the clothesline extends from the wall, with as many as four or five individual lines coming from the extension bar. The bar then hooks to the opposite wall to hold drying clothes.