Facebook Ads for Cheap Electric Fence – are they realistic?
Ads abound on Facebook and the internet, advertising cheap electric fence at R80 or R90 a meter.
Do not expect these ads to reflect what your fence will cost. Fences this cheap are basic, and generic – they are not designed for your unique requirements.
Also consider that if the installer makes a loss or very little profit – he is not in a position to come back for warranty or repair claims. You probably won’t be able to contact him again.
Legal
You won’t be able to sell your house, and will face fines if your fence does not comply with legislation.
Scenarios that affect pricing
If your fence is just 30m Long for instance, Any installer doing this work at R80 meter, is going to lose money if they do the work correctly.
Monitoring Cut Wires on the electric fence
- You can save cable and money by not wiring up the fence to monitor for cutting of earth wires. Intruders can then easily cut the earth wires and get through the fence undetected.
Gaps in the Electric Fence
- Money can also be saved by installing less brackets across the high steps in your fence. This is going to leave gaps that can be exploited by intruders. You have the option of installing the insulators facing into your property and your family to reduce the need for additional brackets at the gaps – you should be trying to keep intruders out though, and not keeping your family in.
Locating the Electric Fence Energiser
- Cheap electric fence ads rely on the energiser being located near the start of the fence, near power and under cover. You will incur additional costs where the energiser must be installed outdoors – in a weather resistant enclosure. Long runs of cable, protected in conduit, and properly rated electrical cable will be required where the energiser is far from a power source, or a suitable spot for the earth spikes is some way away from the energiser, or the energiser is some distance from the start of the fence. You need to dig trenches for this cable in most cases, cutting across driveways, pavings or other concrete.
- You will damage your energiser and create unsafe conditions if you try to save costs by using 0.5mm or 1mm electrical cable to connect the energiser to a power point which is away from the energiser. Don’t bury this cable directly either, you need to protect it with conduit.
Electric Fence Wire Size and Energiser Capacity
- The standard 1.0mm Galvanised wire is OK if you are not on the coast, or your fence is not very long. The standard 4 Joule energiser will also suffice for short fences. Consider thicker stainless steel wire though , along with a higher capacity energiser where the fence is longer. Electric fences longer than 200m must be split into multiple zones. Galvanised wire will corrode rapidly within 50km of the coast, and cannot be recommended.
Arming and Disarming the Electric Fence
- It is dangerous to have to go outside, or to the garage -to arm or disarm your system. You have to venture outside to do this with the standard magnetic tags or keypad that come with your electric fence energiser. The better option, even though it costs more – is to have a remote arming and disarming function installed. Arm or disarm the system with a remote, similar to that used for your gate.
Gates and Openings in the Electric Fence Route
- Costs will increase rapidly as the number of gates and openings in the proposed fence path increase. Additional brackets, duplicate cables, gate contacts and brackets will be required to get the fence across these openings. Contiguous current across these openings must be done without hindering the ability of the occasional delivery vehicle, and must allow people to pass beneath the electrified fence in safety.
Number Of Electrified Lines and Brackets On The Electric Fence
- Why accept a 6 line electric fence offered by these cheap ads? while few security advisers will recommend such a short fence. We recommend at least 8 lines or 10. Your fence must however be designed and specified to suit your specific property
- Brackets are stretched 5m apart on the electric fence to maintain the cheap advertised prices. You don’t want to compromise your protection in this way, neither increase your maintenance costs. Brackets must not be spaced more than 3m apart for proper protection.
Generic Solutions vs Customised Solutions
Each property is unique, and each unique feature impacts the cost of installing an electric fence.
Cheap Electric fences are based on generic assumptions that might not suit your property or security requirements.
Rather engage an installer that will custom design your electric fence solution, to meet your specific properties requirements.
While electric fencing is potentially the cheapest form of boundary protection available, your safety will be compromised if you select a design based on a predetermined cost per meter, as opposed to your families actual security needs.
General Global Benchmarks For Cost Of Electric Fences
The global benchmark for electric fences is in the region of R938 per square meter, but this is obviously subject to the situations and scenario’s highlighted above.
