Electric fence school

What about uninsulated fences?

If an electric fence controller produces sufficient current, it will successfully operate an uninsulated fence. However, there are drawbacks to uninsulated electric fences.

• Wooden posts must be dry; a three-day "soak" (rain) will render most uninsulated electric fences useless.
• Green wood or growing trees cannot be used as posts because the sap conducts the current to ground. fibreglass posts are ideal here since they act as excellent insulators.
• Uninsulated fences must be short. A typical medium-priced, low-impedance fence charger can power only about 1 to 1 1/2 miles of single-wire, uninsulated fence. Even a high-priced, high-powered controller can effectively energize 4 to 5 miles of fence wire if the posts are made of wood.
• Uninsulated fences often cause radio and television interference, especially after a rain. If this interference travels far enough, you will might have the radio inspectors on your doorstep!

A properly insulated fence migh take longer to install, but it delivers a constant, more powerful shock.