Clarke IG1200 1.1kW Generator Review

The Clarke IG1200 Inverter Generator - Our Review

Despite the extra output, the IG1200 is actually just under 3kg lighter than it's sibling, making it even more portable, and we carried it from garage to camper to pitch easily, lifting it with one hand. It is compact too, meaning it's easy to store at home when not in use, and easy to transport in a car etc.



The review machine arrived in a substantial box, which protects it well, and which you can keep the generator in whilst moving around and storing it. Also inside the box we found 12v charging leads, spark plug remover, and screwdriver, and very simple easy to follow pictorial instructions. If you're a newbie to generators you don't need to worry, it's very simple to get going. The instructions say to check the generator has oil in it, we were pleased to find ours was already full, so all we needed was a can of unleaded petrol and we were off (the IG1200 has a 4 stroke engine which means you don't need to mess about mixing oil to the fuel, unlike a two stroke engine). When starting the generator for the first time a few pumps of the primer button are required (the button is clear so you can see that the fuel is in place, a clever touch) then simply gently pull on the recoil starter, and the generator started on the second pull. Later once warm it started on the first pull every time.

For our review trip we'd been lucky enough to be camping on a friend's farm, way away from civilisation but that meant we were also off grid. We'd been running our fridge on the 12v leisure battery which had given it a bit of a caning, so the first task for us was to charge our campervan leisure battery, using the 12v output on the generator. Simply clip the crocodile clips to the battery and within a few hours we'd given the battery a decent topup, meaning we could use the interior lights that night! The IG1200 is surprisingly quiet, the spec says 69 dBA at 7m at 1/4 load , in practice we found this was just a gentle throb in the background, and didn't disturb or annoy us at all, particularly as we'd set it up behind our campervan to deaden any noise even more.



Of course the main benefit of a generator is having mains power where you can't normally get it. The girls were delighted to find they could charge their tablets and phones, and I happily ran the laptop from the 240v outlet. The IG1200 uses "pure sine wave constant voltage technology" which is more stable than the normal mains supply and is therefore ideal for powering sensitive equipment such as computers TVs etc. It also has an "Eco" mode, which automatically adjusts the engine speed to match the load, which means you use less fuel and a lower noise level when the generator is not under load.

Finally, when we got home from our camping trip we had one more task for the IG1200 ! The storage area where we keep our caravan has no mains power, and sometimes turns into a bit of a jungle. We used the mains output on the generator to run an electric Black and Decker strimmer to clear all around our storage pitch, as well clearing the long grass as around the surrounding trees, fantastic!

Conclusions

To summarise, I think we have a new entry in our must have camping and caravanning equipment list. The Clarke IG1200 Inverter Generator is more powerful than it's predecessor, but even lighter at 12.4kg and just as brilliant. At this price point it comes highly recommended for camping, caravanning, and indeed at home!