I got a multi-function laser printer for my home office. It replaced an old laser printer that I had. This new printer causes the lights to dim in the whole house when I print. While it prints, the lights rhythmically dim. This stops once the printer goes to sleep. My old printer never did that. I ended up buying a new laser printer (for unrelated reasons) and it does the same thing(if not worse). The hair dryer in the bathroom does the same thing but it only affects the bathroom lights while the printer seems to affect the whole house.
I tried plugging it into different outlets without a difference. This latest printer(Dell 1815dn) pulls 450 watts while printing. Here's the spec sheet if you're interested:
But, my question is how to fix it? Since we're renting I don't want to make any drastic electrical system changes(cant actually). I was thinking a UPS would work or maybe a power conditioner since I'm assuming that the draw from the printing is so high that the rest of the appliances are being starved. If a UPS were in the mix to provide this extra power then the rest of the appliances wouldn't have a problem.
If my solution theory is correct, any idea what size UPS I will need? Like I said, the spec sheet says peak is 450 watts which lasts for the length of the printing(usually 10 seconds). But, on the back of the unit, it lists 5.4amps which yields about 650 watts(according to my calculations). My guess is that a 1000VA UPS will do the trick.
Thanks for your help/suggestions/pointers
-Kevin