How Much Power Does An Electric Fence Use?

Despite the fact that AC chargers are hooked into an electrical outlet, don’t expect a hefty power bill. AC chargers are typically passive devices that only require a little amount of energy on a daily basis. Most users will notice a negligible change in their energy consumption, which will equal to less than a dollar over the course of a month.

  • Killowatt Hours Utilized per Month = (The charger’s watts per day x days used per month)/1,000

Then you simply multiply that number by the result above to find out how much your electric company charges you per kilowatt hour.

  • The average Zareba fence charger consumes approximately 33 watts per day. So 33 watts times 31 days is 1,023. That equals 1.023 kilowatt hours per month when multiplied by 1,000.

The average cost of a kilowatt hour in the United States is 12 cents. The cost of running that electric charger for the entire month is 3 cents if we multiplied 1.023 by 12 cents (.12).

How Does an Electric Fence Work?

The principles are the same whether you’re using a Netting System or a regular Stock Fence.

An electric fence is made up of two arms that are connected by an open electrical circuit.

The first arm is the fence, which is connected to the Fence Energiser’s power connector. Plastic insulators or an air gap of at least 3cm must completely isolate this portion from any other conductive material (earth, leaves, grass, trees, metal, or brick). It doesn’t have to loop back on itself, and it can be as short as one line from the energiser.

2/. The second arm is the ground, which is connected to the energiser’s Earth terminal through the earth stake/post.

As a result, an OPEN electrical circuit (as depicted in the diagram) remains open, waiting for an errant animal to close it.

When the animal (as illustrated in the diagram) contacts both the live fence and the ground at the same moment, the electrical circuit is closed. This allows electricity (electrons) to flow from the fence to the ground, through the target animal, and back to the energiser via the earth stake, causing the animal to receive an electrical shock when it comes into contact with the wire.

What is the effect of Electric Current on an Animal?

When an animal comes into contact with an electrical wire, it experiences a muscle contraction comparable to a muscle cramp in humans. With a constant supply of current, such as that provided by mains electricity, the gripping effect occurs, which is extremely dangerous because the victim is unable to release the source of the current. The cramping caused by an electric fence is only temporary, and the person can move away from the source of energy. This unpleasant sensation will be associated with touching the fence, and the animal will be discouraged from doing so in the future. As a result, the fence does not cause physical harm to the animal, but rather serves as a teaching tool to keep it from happening again.

Is an Electric Fence Dangerous?

An electric fence is not inherently unsafe. Although the voltage passed through the cables is large, the current or amplification (amps) is quite low. As long as the current or amps are the same, a 220-volt shock will hurt just as much as a 10,000-volt shock. Amps are the ones who murder you. Electric fence energisers generate a lot of voltage (about 8,000 volts) but very little amperage or current (around 120 milliamps). This is a 120-thousandth-of-an-amp signal. It shouldn’t even be capable of killing a squirrel.

This output is rendered safe in two methods. First, the flow of electrons from the capacitor is released in regular pulses of high voltage but low current. The amperage component of the electrical charge is lowered to values between 15 and 500 milliAmps. (The majority of units run between 100 and 150 milliAmps)*. Electricity from the mains is between 13 and 15 amps.

Second, electrical energy is transmitted through the cables in pulses. This implies it sends a pulse of electricity down the line once every second for 1/300th of a second. The pulsating current is caused by the fact that if the wires are touched and a shock is delivered, whatever touches them has a chance to extricate itself. If the current did not pulse (as it does in most electrical appliances such as a hair dryer, radio, or toaster), whatever came into contact with it would continue to be shocked, and the muscles would react to the “grabbing effect” of an electrical impulse until the power was turned off or something pried them off.

When you touch a door, you get roughly 30000 volts at 5 milliamps for 1/1000th of a second, which is uncomfortable but not enduring.

2/.Primary Electricity 220 volts at 13 amps, which is steady, unpleasant, and causes death on a regular basis.

Electrical fencing is a safe product since it uses low amps and a pulsing current. Electricity is dangerous because of the amperage within the electrical charge and the continual connection.

This link will provide you with a more detailed explanation of the safety of an electric fence.

What Happens if a Child Touches it?

A youngster will be shocked if they touch both the hot and ground wires. It will hurt for about 10 minutes, but it will not be incapacitating, leave a burn mark, or cause death. Electric fencing cannot kill or permanently harm anyone because of its low current and pulsating nature. It is, nevertheless, strongly urged that youngsters be kept away from an Electric Fence. All of the energisers on sale are compliant with EU laws and have been certified for use in the intended applications.

What if a Dog Touches it?

The same as a child or anything else that comes into contact with it. They’re going to be OK. For a short time, it will hurt, but they will learn not to touch it again. One difficulty that could arise is if an animal becomes stuck in the fence for an extended period of time and is unable to free itself. This could be due to horned creatures, hedgehogs that curl up into balls, or any other reason they’ve become imprisoned. This differs for different animals and, sadly, might lead to the animal’s death. Fortunately, this is extremely rare; in my 30 years of dealing with electric fencing, I’ve only heard of three instances where an animal was killed. As a result, HoriSmart energisers were created, which are capable of detecting what is touching the fence and treating it appropriately, thus boosting the level of safety.

How Much Energy does an Energiser use?

There isn’t much. The energisers are normally plugged into a 220 volt outlet and consume very little power. The energiser takes a low voltage and converts it to a high voltage that is applied to the wires. The unit consumes extremely little energy because it pulses for such a brief time every second and the fence is not a complete circuit. A 1 joule unit typically consumes 4 watts, which is comparable to a 40 watt light bulb. As a challenge is formed on the fence, energy consumption will rise; the more plant that grows on it, the more electricity it will use.

May I Install an Electric Fence Myself?

Electric fencing is simple and straightforward to install. It lends itself to do-it-yourself, and the majority of users install it themselves. If you’re thinking of doing something like this, it’s a good idea to do some research first. When using electric fencing to achieve your aim, there are a few things to keep in mind. Installing the wire spacing properly, for example, such that a target will strike both the hot and ground wires, causing a shock, and ensuring that the live (or hot) wire contacts NOTHING BUT PLASTIC. Keep in mind that the most common cause of an electric fence’s failure is poor grounding.

Fencer/Energizer

All equipment should be obtained from a reputed company, as this ensures high-quality materials backed by your provider. When choosing an energizer, remember that bigger is preferable. To put it another way, buy a fencer that is a little bigger than you need. This will ensure that enough voltage is going through the wire to handle brush and wet grass sucking up some of the power, as well as future additions. Owing to thicker hair coats on the livestock and the lack of a proper footing due to snow, a fundamental rule of thumb is that you need no less than 2000 volts in the summer and 4000 volts in the winter.

  • Install a fence where rodents won’t be able to nibble through the wires (preferably in a building)

Ground Rods

The most crucial component of the fence is the grounding system. Make sure your ground rods are properly installed. You’ll need a minimum of three 6-8 foot long rods, spaced at least 2 meters apart and 3 meters apart from the energizer. Galvanized wire is used to link the rods and clamps to the energizer.

Check to determine sure the fence is correctly grounded once it has been installed. This is done by grounding out the fence with a metal bar and then using a volt meter to check the ground rods. If your volt meter reads greater than 200 volts, you’ll need more ground rods. With a properly grounded fence, there should be no volt reading on the meter.

Wire

  • The first wire should be 22 inches from the ground, and the highest wire should be 40 inches.
  • At least every 1/2 mile, the top and bottom wires should be connected.

Insulators

  • Purchase high-quality insulators that require two nails at the top and bottom. Insulators that just require one nail will take power from the fence.
  • Insulators are covered by a multi-year warranty from a variety of manufacturers, and broken ones are replaced at no cost to you.

Braces

  • Make sure the horizontal brace is 2.5 times the vertical brace post’s height.
  • There are a variety of ways to construct braces, but the most important is to have corner posts (4 to 5″) that are at least 3.5 feet in the ground. The horizontal brace and straining wire must also be properly fitted.

An electric fence generates how many amps?

A little farm stood across the street from my elementary school, surrounded by an electric fence. Many of us youngsters would dare one other to touch the barrier during recess. Of course, the movie Jurassic Park was my sole exposure to electric fences at the time. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll understand why I was frightened of touching an electric fence. I eventually worked up the bravery to touch the fence, only to be greeted by a faint pulsing tingling. So, given that we live in a vast rural community with a lot of electric fences, the issue arises: Are electric fences dangerous?!

Because touching an electric fence leaves a vivid and painful recollection, and because the voltages are high compared to conventional mains electricity, most people will conclude that the risk to life and limb is also great. Contrary to popular belief, this is not the case. Consider that hundreds of thousands of individuals are “exposed” to millions of electric fences every day throughout the worldyet electric fences are responsible for (but not usually) less than one serious accident each year. Consider the number of people injured or killed each year by tractors, skid loaders, ladders, PTO shafts, balers, mowers, combines, bulls, stallions, shotguns, knives, and other farm equipment. This isn’t to say that there aren’t some dangers. There is, in fact, a minor amount of danger. With risk comes the risk of liability for the fence’s owner.

Although the voltage passed through the cables is large, the current or amplification (amps) is quite low. As long as the current or amps are the same, a 220 volt or 110 volt shock will hurt just as much as a 10,000 volt shock. To power machines and utensils, these currents are steady and have high amperages (13 and 20 Amps). Muscles, whether human and animal, stiffen up when exposed to 220 or 120 volts and are well grounded in dew or a good ground. In that instance, there is no way to get free from the fence. You’re just literally clamped to the wire, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t let go the constant voltage keeps your muscle frozen, and the enormous current will fry you.

The high voltage (about 8,000 volts) produced by electric fence energizers creates a very visible spark that attracts the target’s attention. They do, however, reduce the lethal amps to a low amperage of roughly 120 milliamps (It varies with manufacturers). This is 120 kilowatts of power ( normal mains electricity is 13 Amps). It shouldn’t even be capable of killing a squirrel.

This output is safe in two ways. First, the flow of electrons from the capacitor is released in regular pulses of roughly 1/300th of a second, spaced about a second apart. The amperage component of the electrical charge is lowered to values between 15 and 500 milliamps. (The majority of units run between 100 and 150 milliamps)* Compare this to the following two instances.

  • When you touch a door, you get roughly 30000 volts at.5 milliamps for 1/1000th of a second, which is uncomfortable but not long-lasting.
  • Electricity from the mains. Many incidents of people running out lines directly plugged into 220v or 110v circuits, killing both animals and people, have been reported.

Low impedance circuitry, in which a capacitor is charged by a solid-state circuit, is used in modern fence energizers. A thyristor releases the charge when an animal (or a person) comes into touch with the fence. This is an electronic component that functions as an automated switch, allowing for more precise voltage delivery and a considerably shorter shock pulse – typically a few milliseconds. The energy is transmitted through the wires or conductors in pulses. This implies it sends a pulse of electricity down the line once every second for 1/300th of a second.

The rationale for the pulsating current is that when the wires are touched and deliver a shock, whatever touches it has an opportunity to get away since touching an electrical wire generates a muscle contraction in the animal that is akin to a muscle cramp in humans. With a constant supply of current, such as that provided by mains electricity, the gripping effect occurs, and the victim is unable to release the source of the current. The cramping caused by an electric fence is only temporary, and the person can move away from the source of energy. This unpleasant sensation will be associated with touching the fence, and the animal will be discouraged from doing so in the future.

If the current did not pulse (as it did in most electrical appliances such as hair dryers, radios, and toasters), anything that contacted it would be shocked until the power went off or they were pried off.

One difficulty that could arise is if an animal becomes stuck in the fence for an extended period of time and is unable to free itself. This could be due to horned creatures, hedgehogs that curl up into balls, or any other reason they’ve become imprisoned. This differs for different animals and, sadly, might lead to the animal’s death. Fortunately, this is extremely rare; in my 30 years of dealing with electric fencing, I’ve only heard of three instances where an animal was killed. As a result, the horismart energisers were created.

Is it possible to power an electric fence using a car battery?

Yes, but it is not advised because automobile batteries and leisure batteries are very different. A car battery will give out a lot of electricity in the first few days, but will steadily lose power over the following weeks, making the fence less effective until the battery is completely depleted. They will need to be charged more frequently, and charging a battery while it is still charged will reduce the battery’s life expectancy. A leisure battery has a ‘deep discharge,’ which means it produces a consistent output for weeks at a time before gradually losing its remaining power over a few days until it is totally depleted. These batteries usually have warning lights on them to let you know how charged they are.

Yes. Even when sitting on the grass, batteries will slowly discharge to earth, thus the higher you can keep them from the ground, the better. The battery’s charge will last a little longer if it is resting on a short length of plywood that is resting on a couple of blocks of wood.

We normally recommend folks to their nearest caravan / camping outlet or sometimes a small garage where they stock them because they are full of acid and few carriers like to move them (and those that do charge a lot).

Electric fencing is less expensive and requires less maintenance, as well as being a completely distinct form of barrier. While a traditional fence acts as a physical barrier to an animal, an electric fence acts as a psychological barrier since the animal gets shocked and rapidly learns that coming into touch with the wire is unpleasant.

Yes. When fencing horses, electric fencing is ideal since they quickly learn to appreciate it and stay away from it. A horse will also not rub against the fence, which could cause harm to both the horse and the fence.

Certainly not. Because barbed wire can catch on an animal’s hair or skin, it could inflict injury if it were electrified, as the animal would yank away from the electric fence when it was shocked, damaging any hair or skin that came into touch with the barb. Instead, create a powered line along the top of the fence using distance insulators and a piece of electric wire or rope.

There may be just enough voltage on your fence to cause a shock but not enough to register on a voltage tester if there is a fault. Examine the installation to ensure that all connections are secure and that there is no power leakage to the ground, which is most often caused by damaged insulators or vegetation touching the line.

The most likely reason is an earthing fault. It is more difficult for the electric fence current to return to the energiserand complete the circuit in dry weather than it is when it is wet. When putting up an electric fence, it’s preferable to place the earth stake somewhere that won’t dry out in the summer. Connect via a ‘lead-out’ cable another earthstake a few meters away from the first.

Electric fencing stakes are always galvanised so that they don’t corrode underground, as rust would prevent the electricity from returning to the energiser, making the fence less effective.

No. The pulse is every second or two and lasts only a fraction of a second, so when an animal experiences a snap, it jerks for a split second before the current stops. Nobody will acquire a reaction that binds them to the wire if they touch it – that only happens in cartoons!

Yes. Energisers are quite rare to go wrong. We’d only had two in the previous two years, one of which was a lightning strike and the other of which went submerged. Both were sent away for new wiring to be fitted, and they are now operational. We don’t carry new circuits as standard because the brands we carry are among the best and most dependable on the market.

There are two types of solar panels available for electric fencing. There are those that are touted as being suitable for “three seasons” and are effective in the summer, competent in the spring and autumn, and unreliable in the winter. These are expensive, ranging from 40 to 100, and will not provide you with peace of mind that your fence is adequately charged. The other variety is excellent and is manufactured to a high standard, although it starts at roughly 200 and goes up to 400. They’re excellent and dependable, but most folks have an old car battery that they can charge and install overnight while the leisure battery is recharged.

Are electric fences AC or DC powered?

An energizer is required to generate the charge required to power an electric fence (also known as a fencer or charger). There are energizers that use either AC (plugs into an outlet) or DC (battery, solar panel, or both) electrical current. The majority of farm-fence energizers utilise the power to send a short pulse of very high voltage and low current to the fence. Every two seconds, the majority of these so-called short-shock chargers unleash a tremendous burst of electricity in a concentrated voltage for a fraction of a second. To let you know it’s working, many produce a continuous “tick tick tick” along with the pulse. This burst swiftly dissuades the interested animal from exploring its escape route further, ensuring that they do not suffer too much of a shock.

Energizers are classified according to how many acres or miles of fence they can power. For example, a typical fencer may charge between $80 and $90 for 20 to 30 acres of land. Smaller energizers that can charge up to 8 or 10 acres are available, giving you the freedom to pick a solution that matches your individual demands. It’s important to remember that the number of acres or miles the charger can power is for a single line, and many animals require a multiline fence. When it comes to researching fencers, I find the mileage rating to be significantly more useful.

Sending a pulse down the fence wire is only part of the tale because electricity travels in circles. The electrical circuit is open with a correctly functioning electric fence and nothing connecting the hot wire to ground… it’s like a switch that’s been turned off. The electrical pulse then diminishes after traveling the length of the fence. When an animal (or a sloppy rancher) touches the hot wire, the pulse passes through them and into the ground, where it is carried back to the energizer’s ground pole through ground rods driven into the ground. The unwary beast’s guttural explosion indicates that the switch has been flipped on… the electrical circuit is complete, but only for a fraction of a second.