Your Old Fence Doesn't Need to Be Replaced — It Needs Electricity
At some point every farm realizes the existing fence isn't going to cut it anymore. No matter how much maintenance you do, it's too far gone — or too poorly designed — to safely contain your animals. In most cases you can blame the animals themselves: without a deterrent, they press against the fence for vegetation, rub on it when they itch, and eventually plow through it.
An electric fence is a deterrent to all of these behaviors — and at a fraction of the cost of replacing an old-style fence, you can retrofit your existing fence in a few hours. Some of the hardest work (digging and installing posts) is already done for you.
Converting a Board Fence
Cost: about $7/ft for new board vs 8¢/ft for electric lines. Board fence problems: animals scratch, eat and chew the wood; paint/sealing required; weather deteriorates it.
You can keep almost the entire board fence intact — you're just adding to it. Use nail-on extender insulators that hold the electric wire a few inches away from the fence structure, which stops animals rubbing, chewing or leaning on it. Run a hot wire along the top edge of the fence and at least one more about six inches off the ground, adding more depending on the animals inside. The result is an electric fence that's nearly invisible to passersby while fully containing your livestock.
Converting a Barbed Wire Fence
Cost: about 84¢/ft for barbed wire vs 8¢/ft for electric. Problems: weather and rust deteriorate the wire; it injures people and animals, can trap them, and splicing is problematic.
First, remove the existing barbed wire — never electrify it directly. Electrifying barbed wire is dangerous: people and animals can become trapped on the fence and receive repeated shocks while struggling free. Remove the wire, pull out the staples and collect any that fall, and wind up the old wire before scrapping it. Then use your existing posts to carry the new electric wire, choosing insulators to match your post type and conductor. Before tensioning, make sure the posts — especially corners — are solid and firmly set.
Converting a Woven Wire Fence
Cost: about $1.07/ft for woven wire vs 8¢/ft for electric. Problems: rust, trapping animals, and losing shape under animal pressure.
Two options:
- If the woven wire is still in good shape: add electric lines to extend its life. Add an electrified wire along the top and one or more on the inside using chain-link-style insulators made for these fences. Animal pressure becomes virtually nonexistent, so the old wire stops being stretched and damaged.
- If the woven wire is too far gone: peel it off the posts and build a multi-strand electric line — electrify the top wire and add hot wires as needed.
Conversion Checklist
With posts already in place, you're down to the fundamentals — insulators, wire, grounding and the energizer. You'll need:
- Energizer — AC (plug-in), DC (battery) or solar, sized to fence length. Longer fences and tougher animals need more power — see our energizer sizing guide.
- Insulators — matched to your post type and conductor (screw-in for wood, extenders for board, chain-link style for woven).
- Ground system — without ground rods the fence won't work; sectioned rods help in tough soil.
- Wire or poly — aluminum or steel for permanent lines; poly tape/rope/wire is highly visible and easy for animals to learn, so they test it less after introduction.
- Fence tester — essential for verifying voltage after the conversion and for future maintenance.
The Bottom Line
Retrofitting costs a fraction of rebuilding, takes hours instead of days, and transforms a deteriorating barrier into an effective, easy-to-maintain electric fence. For the full install sequence — grounding, energizer hookup and testing — work through our installation guides.