Electric Fence Wire: Vital Info Before Planning to Buy One

Before you sit down to plan your electric fence, there are few things you should know about electric fence wire.

This post contains helpful information that will come in handy when you begin planning for your electric fence.

Electric Fence Wire: Higher the Number, Smaller the Gauge

While this may be common knowledge, plenty of people get confused by this. When talking about wire gauge, the smaller the number means the larger the wire. Most electric fences are between 15- and 17-gauge. Typically they are made out of steel or aluminum.

Usually a 12-gauge is used for high tensile electric fences. However, the wire used in high tensile systems is specific to this type of fence. Just because the electric fence wire is 12-gauge does not mean it is compatible with high tensile electric fences.

Aluminum Electric Fence Wire Has Its Ups and Downs

Aluminum carries an electric charge better than steel, but the downside is its sagging. Over time, aluminum electric fence wire can stretch and sag. This is only an aesthetic problem as the charge carried is not affected by this stretching and sagging.


Polytape is Great for a Few Reasons

Polytape is also a great material for electric fences for animals because livestock and horses can easily see it. That makes training your animals easier. It can also be more convenient as you can just roll it up and move it to another location.

Steel, on the other hand, can be difficult to roll and retains shapes. Smoothing it back out is even harder than rolling it together.

Grass Isn’t Good

If you’ve got tall grass that touches your electric fence wire, you’ve got wasted electricity. You may want to consider hooking up the lower wires separately than the rest. Install a switch that controls these lower wires so you can turn them off when the grass is high. This will save your electricity.

Proper Number of Tie-offs

Follow the maker’s recommendation in regards to the number of tie-offs. If you have too many, you’ll get less elasticity and have a higher chance of wire breakage. If you have too little, you won’t get the support you need.

Be Careful with High-Tensile Electric Fence Wire

A stiff wire and small kink don’t work together. The wire will break. You’ll also want to be careful when using a hammer. Hitting it with a hammer will also cause it to break. To fix a high-tensile wire, you need to cut out the damaged wire and then splice it. A hand-tied square knot results in a strong splice for a standard fence, not high tensile.

Keep Them Separated

Wires should be at least 5 inches apart.

Your next step should probably be learning more about electric fence energizers now that you’ve learned about electric fence wire. Post written by guest blogger Michelle Anderson.