What is a Joule?

Electric fencing can save 30-40% off costs compared with traditional fence, due to using fewer materials and less labor. So, when installing an electric fence, you need to first determine if your fence is going to be permanent or temporary -because the tools, the infrastructure, and the products are all going to be different.

Whether your project is permanent or temporary, whether your fencing in livestock or heading into the backcountry; in our How to Install Electric Fence Guide, we’ll answer questions to help you get started in your electric fencing project. It’s all doable, let’s get to work!

All energizers are rated in joules. Basically, a joule is how much horsepower your energizer has.

All energizers are rated in joules, and Gallagher measures theirs in store joules. Joule is essentially how much horsepower your energizer has. It can blow through shorts if you've got more joules, it can shock more classes of livestock if you've got more joules.

So think of it like you're driving a car. You can go 60 miles an hour in a little car, but if you put a trailer on that little car and you put it under a load, can you still go 60 miles an hour? Not so much.

But if you had a big pickup, it can go 60 miles an hour down the highway and you can put a 24 foot stock trailer on the back full of cows and still go 60. It's got the horsepower to drive through a load, much like it a bigger joule energizer can blow through grass and all sorts of other problems that can occur on a fence line.