Planning your electric fence

Careful planning saves a lot of time and energy. Use our checklist to help you work it through.

Step 1: What is the location of your electric fence?
Electric fencing can cause interference on telephone lines and it is your legal responsibility to avoid this by not sitting fences under phone wires or parallel to underground telecoms cables. Similarly you must site your electric fence away from radio aerials.

Step 2: How will you fence the area?
By hand or using a fencing machine? This will depend on how regularly you fence, how big an area you are fencing and your budget, Fencing machines know as winders can save hours of back breaking work.

Step 3: Will your electric fence be temporary or permanent?
Temporary fencing move at least once a month where as permanent fencing may be in place for many months.

Step 4: What livestock do you want to contain or keep out?
Think about the height of your wire and the spacing of your stakes.

Step 5: How big is the area you want to fence?
You need a rough measurement of the perimeter to assess how much fence wire you will require, and how many posts to hold it. The length of your electric fence will also determine which energiser to buy.

Step 6: How many corners or changes of direction are there?
You will need strong anchor posts at every corner or significant bend in the fence.

Step 7: What is your power source for your energiser?
Are you close enough to a mains supply to use a mains energiser? If not, you will have to use a battery-powered model, or a dual power energiser that can run on either.

Step 8: Do you need a gateway or access area across an existing path?
Give some thought to where you need to make a break in your electric fence so you can get in or move animals around easily.