We always recommend the use of leisure and deep cycle batteries with electric fencing as, unlike car batteries, they are designed to be repeatedly discharged and then re-charged. This battery should have a life of 200 cycles and can last up to 2-7 years if treated correctly.

It depends on many variables. How hot does the battery get during the day, how cold at night? How many watt-hours is the battery compared to the draw.Heat is a major killer of sealed lead acid batteries, the type used for electric fences. I causes the liquid electrolyte to evaporate faster, which in turn will eventually damage the battery.Cold isn’t as bad for the battery, but if it gets too cold, it can form ice crystals damaging the cells.

One other variable is the capacity of the battery. If your battery pack is on the low-power side, you can be over-using the battery every day. Take a look at your electric fence power supply and locate the input volts and amps. Then look on your battery to see what the capacity is. Typically at 40% of capacity, the electronics will stop drawing from the battery as it can damage the circuitry.

The best way to be more efficient with your batteries is keep them insulated from heat and cold, and make sure that you have a large enough battery to handle the day’s needs.

Our advice would be to use a 12v leisure battery rather than a car battery to power your electric fencing.  Leisure batteries work in a different way to car batteries - leisure batteries are slow release meaning that they hold their charger longer when they are powering your fence on the other hand car batteries will run down faster as they are designed to be constantly charged up by running your car.

Most electric fence energisers will give a guide as to how long they will last on a 75amp/hr battery - for example a Hotline Gemini 40 energiser may last between 4-5 weeks attached to this battery in the summer months but a Hotline Buzzard energiser would last more line 2-3 weeks before requiring charging.  With the addition of a solar panel trickle feeding the 12v Leisure battery your battery will require less time between conventional charges.

All leisure batteries have a amp/hr rating - the larger the number the larger the battery and the longer it will last between charges.Larger batteries also have larger terminals and so fitting a solar panel and an energiser croc clips is easier than if using a smaller amp/hr battery.