If you live in a house in Ontario, no one can stop you from letting your clothes hang out in your own backyard.

But many apartment dwellers will have to keep popping change in the dryer if they can't find a spot in their cramped living rooms and bathrooms to hang their wet clothes.

Restrictions that ban clotheslines in ground-level homes, including those in agreements between home builders and buyers, are no longer in effect, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced Friday at a news conference in Toronto.

Jane Almeida, a spokeswoman for the premier's office said the new regulations are retroactive to Thursday at 4 p.m.

However, they don't apply to agreements banning clothelines in apartment buildings and condos due to safety concerns, she told CBCNews.ca.

Energy Minister Gerry Phillips said using a clothesline instead of a dryer will help families save money and reduce the demand for electricity, reducing pollution in the process.

Ontario currently relies on nuclear energy for more than 50 per cent of its power, hydroelectricity for 22 per cent, and burning coal for much of the rest.

The province announced in January that it planned to end clothelines restrictions by the summer.