Miles Hogan's new business is hoping to help people reduce their electricity consumption one drying rack at a time.

The North Vancouver resident and owner of local business Hogan Wood began producing drying racks this year to provide homeowners with alternative ways of drying clothes.

"It was basically my response to the environmental challenges that we face," Hogan said. "I wanted to create a solution that would use our renewable resources and would also enable people to make a small step to change our behaviour."

At $150 each, the racks are produced in Lillooet and are made entirely from Douglas fir. The rack can hold up to four queen-sized bed sheets and can be mounted to either the ceiling or the wall. The rack is designed to rotate into an upper position to reduce the amount of space used.

The drying rack's versatility provides people living in condominiums with alternative ways of drying their clothes, Hogan said.

According to Natural Resources Canada, dryers consume a total of 7.2 billion kilowatts of electricity per year. A 2010 Simon Fraser University report notes that one load of clothes in the dryer uses enough energy to toast 250 pieces of bread.

For Hogan, the energy needed for one load of laundry is unnecessary and environmentally degrading when alternative, renewable resources like sun and wind can be used.

"I remember being forced to use the dryer last year during the heat wave," he said, "It's totally insane and goes against everything we're trying to achieve. We should be using the sun and wind to dry our clothes."

But strict leasing agreements and strata bylaws in many apartment buildings are proving a great challenge for Hogan's newly launched drying rack. Many residences do not permit the use of drying racks on balconies but Hogan is pushing for a change in regulations to provide flexibility in the type of racks used.

"We created an attractive, long-lasting product that can hopefully provide some middle ground for strata councils and landlords," he said. "I've met so many people saying it's a great idea so I'm hoping for some sort of compromise."

In 2009, the province of Ontario provided flexibility for apartment and condominium tenants by prohibiting bylaws or agreements that ban the use of clotheslines or drying racks.

For more information, visit www.hoganwood.com.