Mains electric fence running costs

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mikejd

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We are looking at installing a mains fence energiser to power our fences. We have two paddocks, each just under 3 acres, which we subdivide with tape fences. We are considering running a mains powered 'spine' along the central fence to link off.

I am looking at an energiser that would be suitable which has a stated power consumption of 1.5kw. If I were to run this for 24/7 hours I calculate that it would cost about £1500 per year, which would be unsustainable. I am wondering if some form of intermittent on/off arrangement might work, say on for a couple of weeks to start to get the horses used to it, then only 1day a week to reinforce it. Has anyone any experience of something like this?
 
My fence costs a lot less than it did to keep re-charging battery's. We have 7 acres split into paddocks and use a Rutland ESM 902 which is on 90% the time (currently using a mole valley own brand one which I am really impressed with as the Rutland has gone back under warranty) this costs approx. £130-150 a year (well it did last year so lets hope the electricity costs haven't risen that much!) we are on commercial rates as stable block separate to home.

Depends on your horse, I cant leave ours off for any length of time due to having a naughty pony that can sense if the fence is off even for 10 mins! and also having a stallion on site.
 
Maybe I am misunderstanding the consumption - 1.5kw x £0.12/unit x 24hrs x 365 day = £1576.80. Perhaps I should speak to the manufacturers.
 
I'm no mathematician but I'm pretty sure OP that your maths is wrong. Electric fence energizers use very little electricity & are very cheap to use. My energiser powered by a Leisure battery used to power up to 12 miles of electric fence & it needed charging about once a month. It was only on for about 7 hours a day but that shows how little power they use.
 
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The Rutland ESM 902 draws 14 watts, so 1500 watts seems a bit high! Any chance it's actually 15 watts? If you aren't misreading, probably worth going back to the maufacturer or shopping around for something a bit less thirsty.
 
mikejd said:
We are looking at installing a mains fence energiser to power our fences. We have two paddocks, each just under 3 acres, which we subdivide with tape fences. We are considering running a mains powered 'spine' along the central fence to link off.

I am looking at an energiser that would be suitable which has a stated power consumption of 1.5kw. If I were to run this for 24/7 hours I calculate that it would cost about £1500 per year, which would be unsustainable. I am wondering if some form of intermittent on/off arrangement might work, say on for a couple of weeks to start to get the horses used to it, then only 1day a week to reinforce it. Has anyone any experience of something like this?
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There is no such animal, lol. 1.5kw would be red hot burning all day The average for a GOOD mains energiser is 10 watts. Believe me - I have 3 of them running 24/7 and they are VERY affordable. But they MUST be on 24/7 - because any smart horse will KNOW when they're turned off (they sense with their whiskers.) So - less than £15 per year.
 
Oops, misread the tech. info. Should be 1.5w not 1.5kw. Thanks for everyone's comments anyway. Checked with Rutland and they reckon £8 - £10 per year for the ESM402.
 
OP you nearly gave me a heart attack LOL thinking my mains leccy fencing was costing that much to run!!

The advice I would give anyone thinking of installing a mains energiser is to sit and draw some diagrams - and play with them. Ask someone else to have a look too, ideally someone like, for instance, a local farmer or another horsey person, as they may have some ideas which you could bounce around with! Coz (obviously), once you've installed your mains unit, you won't easily be able to change its location, unlike your battery energiser. You will need to have your mains energiser situated somewhere like a shed or barn where the elements can't get to it, and you might have to take a bit of time to figure it all out. I've got mine outside by the "spine" which is my main fencing line as-it-were, and from where everything else connects to, and it is situated inside a water/weather-proof white plastic box thing to protect it from the elements. So location needs to be carefully thought about.

I consulted an electrician; and had mine installed professionally, simply because I knew I wouldn't be able to do it myself and wanted to be sure everything was safe and correct. But DO make sure you get a Sparky who understands what is required with something like this!! Mine wasn't really sure TBH..... but did get the idea in the end :) LOL. Ideally you want someone who's used to doing outside fittings and fixtures and can think outside the box.

I spent a fortune on batteries in the days before I got mains fixed up; my old boy seemed to have special psychic "knowledge" of when the battery wasn't quite as strong, the blighter, and he'd throw me a "look" and then just blandly walk through it!! So I had no choice but to concentrate his mind and put the whole lot on mains.
 
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