Today, I got a new toaster oven. When it's heating, my kitchen lights (plugged into an adjacent outlet) flicker/pulse.
What can I do to reduce the flickering?
If I get a power conditioner, can I put it on the power supply to the toaster oven, so that the appliance doesn't impact any other outlets in the household? It looks like power conditioners are usually intended to be used on the devices you want to shield, rather than on the device that's causing the problem; does it work both ways?
I'm in Canada, so my mains power is 120 V at 60 Hz.
Edit – more details:
- New toaster oven: Breville BOV800XL "Smart Convection Oven", 1800W
- Old toaster oven (no flickering problem): Hamilton Beach, convection, 1440W
- Microwave on same outlet (no flickering problem): Panasonic Inverter, 1100W output, 1200W input
The new toaster oven doesn't exhibit the flickering problem if I'm toasting; only if it's heating on "bake" mode (both when the convection fan is on and off). The lights dim when I turn the toaster oven on any mode, but on "toast" they don't flicker; they just dim and stay dim until the toaster oven shuts off.
The flickering happens around 8 Hz (but it's hard to tell for sure). I put a Kill-a-Watt meter on the lights (which were turned on), and got the following readings, but it only updates the display once per second:
- Toaster off: 118.7 .. 119.2 V
- Toaster on "toast": 117.1 .. 117.6 V
- Toaster on "bake": 117.2 .. 117.4 V, flickers
The light fixture is mounted above the counter, not the main kitchen light fixture; it has three sockets rated for 50W each and a single on/off power switch (no dimmer control). I don't know what kind of bulbs they contain but I think they're incandescent:
It appears that no other lights are affected (ie. the overhead lights, the range hood light, or a fluorescent fixture above the sink).
I guess the toaster oven is doing some PWM thing when it's on bake? I don't know for sure, but the flickering is very distracting.
This is an old house (100 years this year, I think) but the wiring was updated within the last decade, I believe. I'm renting so it's unfeasible for me to do anything about the wiring and setup (but I suppose I could run extension cords).
Best Answer
The problem isn't within the toaster, and adding a "power conditioner" wouldn't help. It's simply drawing a lot of power from the outlet, and the wiring impedance between the outlet and the distribution panel is causing the voltage at the outlet to drop a bit.
In general, the lighting circuits and the countertop appliance circuits should be on separate breakers to begin with, so that an appliance fault won't leave you in the dark with a potentially dangerous situation (hot and/or spinning objects).
You should try to work out which outlets in your kitchen are on which circuits, and operate the toaster on a separate circuit from the one your lights are plugged into.