If you're looking for a battery electric fence energiser then you'll need to decide which type of battery energiser will suit your purpose.

There are three main types of battery energisers available which we'd recommend for using to secure livestock in the UK.

Firstly there are 6v energisers which are usually run from 4 D cell batteries (like the ones used for torches). Each of these batteries produces 1.5v giving the 6v supply to the fencer. Some can be run from the lantern type of 6v battery.

6v fencers are normally used for short runs of fencing and with animals who take minimal power to respect the fence boundary. These are terrific for horse strip grazing and for cattle to restrict their intake of grass.

9v energisers are for some reason not nearly as popular in the UK as they are on the continent.
On mainland Europe around 90% of all battery powered fence units are 9v with only 10% being 12v. In the UK however it is the other way round with farmers and livestock owners opting for 90% 12v machines and only 10% choosing a 9v unit.

One reason for this may be that they are supplied with power by a dry 9v battery which is disposable and so the cost is a factor. They do not cost much over a year and normally a battery can last for the best part of a season without having to be replaced. As these types of unit are meant to be very mobile there is also a value to not having to lug a big, heavy battery around the fields and take it home for recharging regularly like you'd have to do with a 12v unit.

The 9v batteries are fairly light and are contained within the case and usually sit on the earth spike and to move it you just need to unclip it from the fence, lift it out of the ground and push back into the field in it's new position. We have a couple of models in the shop with battery saving features too and it's possible to lower the pulse frequency to save further.

I have used a 9v machine to power the fence round my vegetable patch for 3 years now without having to replace the battery. I realise that it's not on for much time during the year but it certainly saved a lot of hassle just having to dig it out of the shed, stick it in the ground, connect it to the fence and turn on rather than having to dig out the energiser, the battery and the battery charger!

The most popular battery unit in the UK by far these connect to a rechargeable 12v battery to supply them with power. You can get some very high powered machines that can put 6000v down your fields perimeter from one of these batteries and the beauty is you can recharge them cheaply.

There are two types of 12v battery that can be used here. Car batteries can be used but leisure batteries are the best if you intend to have your energiser on for long periods of time. A car battery will give a good 'oomph' of power for around a week and then slowly drop it's power over a matter of weeks so although the light on the energiser is flashing, the current going down the line falls far short of the electric pulse needed to keep most animals contained. Leisure batteries are 'deep cycle' or 'deep discharge' and are without doubt the best for the job. They will give a good 'oomph' for a good few weeks and then drop off in power in around a week and when they are empty of power they are completely empty. Many people use a leisure battery to run the fence and an old car battery when the leisure one has been taken in overnight for a recharge.

NB When looking for a leisure battery remember that the larger the Ah, the higher it's capacity and the longer it will last between recharging.