Selecting an Energizer
The energizer is to a fence as the engine is to a car. Pick one too small and you will have performance issues and a much shorter life on your energizer as it must constantly be working at 100% just to try and keep up. Pick one too big and you risk wasting money on a unit with more potential than you will ever use.
We always recommend going with an energizer bigger than you think you will need. This is for a few reasons:
- If you ever want to build on your fence, you cannot add another small energizer. There must be 1 and only 1 energizer hooked up to a fence.
- An oversized energizer does not have to work as hard. An energizer working at 30% of its capacity will last longer and perform better than one working at 60%.
- The worst fence conditions tend to be the time you need your fence working the most (heavy rains, high wind, etc). If your energizer performs fine 90% of the time but fails when put to the test, it will fail at the worst possible time.
So, how do you pick an energizer that you will be happy with for years to come?
The first step is to decide how to power your unit. You have two choices in power, AC or DC. AC units plug into standard wall outlets, either 120 or 220V. These units tend to be cheaper, more powerful, and more reliable. DC units run off a battery. Some small, portable DC units can run off D cell batteries, while most battery DC units are hooked up to a 12 volt battery that you can recharge or replace once it’s drained. Solar DC units have a built-in battery and solar panel, so all you need to do is turn the unit on, let it sit in the sun, and enjoy your fence.
A few units are Multi-Power units, and can be run off either AC or DC power. These options are great if you have access to an outlet but have outages somewhat frequently.
Once you have a power source in mind, see the below chart and find the smallest unit that meets your fence size in the "recommended distance" category. This is the smallest unit you should choose. There is no harm to going up another unit or two if you can afford to do so.
Also check out this page for more details about energizers.
| Type | Energizer | Joules |
'Up To' Distance Miles / Acres |
Recommended Miles / Acres |
i Series Features |
| Plug-In | M10000i | 100.0 | 1,000 / 6,000 | 125 / 3,000 | X |
| Plug-In | M5800i | 58.0 | 430 / 2,700 | 87 / 2,200 | X |
| Plug-In | M1500 | 15.0 | 160 / 900 | 40 / 360 | |
| Plug-In | M1100 | 11.0 | 110 / 650 | 36 / 280 | |
| Plug-In | M800 | 8.0 | 90 / 520 | 30 / 200 | |
| Plug-In | M560 | 5.6 | 75 / 400 | 23 / 130 | |
| Plug-In | M360 | 3.6 | 55 / 250 | 19 / 95 | |
| Plug-In | M160 | 1.6 | 30 / 100 | 11 / 60 | |
| Plug-In | M120 | 1.2 | 15 / 60 | 6 / 30 | |
| Plug-In | M60 | 0.6 | 10 / 40 | 3 / 20 | |
| Plug-In | M30 | 0.3 | 5 / 20 | 2 / 10 | |
| Plug-In | M10 | 0.1 | 2 / 10 | 0.5 / 3 | |
| Type | Energizer | Joules | 'Up To' | Recommended | i Series |
| Multi | MB2800i | 28.0 | 250 / 1,500 | 50 / 1,000 | X |
| Multi | MB1800i | 18.0 | 200 / 1,200 | 42 / 420 | X |
| Multi | MB1000 | 10.0 | 100 / 600 | 34 / 250 | |
| Multi | B280 | 2.8 | 50 / 200 | 22 / 110 | |
| Multi | B180 | 1.8 | 30 / 100 | 15 / 90 | |
| Multi | B80 | 0.8 | 20 / 70 | 7 / 60 | |
| Type | Energizer | Joules | 'Up To' | Recommended | i Series |
| Battery | B60 | 0.6 | 15 / 60 | 5 / 40 | |
| Battery | B11 | 0.11 | 4 / 20 | 0.6 / 6 | |
| Battery | B10 | 0.1 | 4 / 20 | 0.6 / 6 | |
| Battery | B700 | 7.0 | 80 / 450 | 25 / 200 | |
| Type | Energizer | Joules | 'Up To' | Recommended | i Series |
| Solar | S400 | 4.0 | 60 / 280 | 20 / 120 | |
| Solar | S200 | 2.0 | 45 / 160 | 14 / 90 | |
| Solar | S100 | 1.0 | 30 / 100 | 8 / 60 | |
| Solar | S40 | 0.4 | 25 / 80 | 5 / 30 | |
| Solar | S22 | 0.22 | 12 / 40 | 2 / 15 | |
| Solar | S20 | 0.2 | 12 / 40 | 2 / 14 | |
| Solar | S16 | 0.16 | 10 / 30 | 1 / 10 | |
| Solar | S10 | 0.1 | 3 / 15 | 0.5 / 5 |