fence charger: solar or hardwired?

[buspete]

Sometime this week I'll be buying a fence charger. Solar chargers are 1 1/2 - 2 times the cost of hardwired ones, but I'm thinking of long term electricity savings as well as saving me the hassle of running electricity out to the fence.

Does anyone have an opinion about whether solar chargers are as good as the regular plug-in type?

[bill not in oh]

#1 get a low impedence charger whichever way you go - grass and weeds won't pull the current down as much.

Solar is not affected by power outages - depending on where you live and what you are fencing in/out that could be a major decision. If you have the potential to be without power for more than a few hours, not having thatfence could be a problem.

Hardwired chargers don't depend on a battery to make them work - you'll replace the battery(ies) regularly. One option here is to use a solar panel to charge 12V batteries (marine or RV) then run the (110V) charger off an inverter.

Establishing the electric service to your charger location could be really expensive. If the only reason is to power the charger that could take a long time to pay for.

It only costs a few bucks (6-10) a month to power most 110V chargers.

[uncle Will in In.]

If you have a plug in within a quarter mile of the fence a 120 volt charger is by far the better charger. They wouldn't use enough electric to ever make up for the difference in price between those and the solar chargers. An electric fence can be off for two or three days before stock will accidently discover it. It could be off for much longer than that before a horse will touch it. A low impedence AC charger will not short out as quickly with weeds. You can check if it's opperating Ok right at the charger and not have to go out to the fence to see if it's working.

[VALENT]

I'm with unclewill on this one. If your fence is near electricity or within a reasonable distance, I would go with the 110 hardwired model. Their power is "normally" much greater.

[buspete]

Thanks everyone.

It sounds like a hardwired one is definately the way to go.

This is to keep some brush goats confined to a section of woods. I was planning to use tape instead of single conductor so it would be more visible (so I don't bump into it as often) and I think that they (the goats) will learn to avoid it easier if it is more visible.

I've got plenty of extension cord, and my goal is to move the pen around as they clear out the brush.

[Gary in ohio]

You also need to take a look at your fence how its used and if any vegitation will grow up the fencer wire. A couple of weeds laying against the hot wire can drain a solar powered system pretty fast. Many mains powered units have week clearning (higher voltage/current) ranges.

[Rowdy]

I have been debating this subject for awhile now too. I only have six acres, but the place is 200 ft wide by 1250 feet long, and of course where I want the fence is on the wrong end of the 1250 feet!

Well, while reading on the net about this I've run across more than one New Zealand website that mentions this: "American electric fences are overbuilt and underpowered." Which got me to thinking, and checking on the price of chargers.

Tractor Supply (it might not be the best place to buy a charger, but it was close for price checking) has various chargers. The one I am now buying costs $100, and is a "50 mile of fence" (1.5 output joule I think, maybe it was 2). The same priced built in solar and battery models were far less impressive in stats. With all my future fence plans included: all the pig pens, the cross fencing for the goats, containment pens, and even with a six strand fence my totals came out to just over a true mile of fencing. The chart on the above mentioned charger claims that with one mile of wire the fence will have 11,000 volts on it... which I'm thinking will be enough to keep animals from touching the fence on a regular basis. :baby04:

With such a strong charger, unless your power is VERY far from where you want the fence, you could put the charger where your power is, then run the fence to where you want it... and good sized charger gives your room to expand as well. In my case, I'm only fencing off about an acre this month, but before I am finished I'll have over a mile of wire on the place.

Anyway, I hoped I made sense.... tired

Rowdy

Oh, here are a few links:
Mistakes to Avoid with electric fencing

Fence design-small article

Large list of links concerning fencing

Another How To with diagrams