Energy transfer in initially excited dipole chains was studied using simple one-dimensional models. Two types of chains were studied: the altitudinal dipole chain, in which all the dipoles rotate around the same axis, and the azimuthal dipole chain, in which the chain axis lies in the rotation planes of the dipoles. The analytic treatment of a pair of dipoles shows that energy transfer from dipole to dipole can only be complete for low excitations. At higher excitations, the excited dipole rotates too quickly for the second one to follow. Molecular dynamics simulations of 25-dipole chains show that energy transfer is possible in these chains. In some limiting cases, the energy transfer shows a soliton-like behavior. The altitudinal chain shows such behavior for low excitations, but for high excitations the rest of the chain cannot follow the excited dipole. In the azimuthal chain, the soliton-like behavior is more difficult to find: Both for low and high excitations the system shows no noticeable energy transfer. Only for certain excitations with intermediate energy can a soliton-like transfer be observed.