Just had my one-year home review and one of the issues I had raised
was that the bedroom light dims when an iron is switched on.  I can
actually tell when the thermostat switches the iron on/off by the change
of intensity of the light.

The light was installed by the home-builder when the house was built
and has 2 @ 60W bulbs in it.  That should be less than 1 Amp total
I believe.  The only other thing in the room is a small digital alarm =
clock
(no radio either).  There are 6 other plug outlets in the room (each has
2 actual plug sockets), for a total capacity of 12 plugs.  Nothing else
is plugged into any of the room outlets.  Only other factor is that the
light switch was replaced with an x10 unit, but the dimming problem
was there before the X10 stuff went in.

An electrician came over today and said that this is normal, because
the outlet is rated at 15A, and the outlet plus the light is taking more
than 15A total.  (The iron is rated at approx 10A, btw).  He said that
for places where an iron would be plugged in, they would normally add
a special outlet.  I've never heard of that before, cause it's an iron =
-- not
a welder or dryer.

Is this all just BS?  If I have 12 outlets, that implies to a homeowner,
a capacity of 12 x 15A, for a total of 180A.  Perhaps one might say
that it's 15A per plate (2 outlets) so the capacity is really only 90A.
Either way, should the iron dim the room light noticeably?

Why does this matter to me?  Cause if I ever have a problem such as
a fire, etc, my guess (from past issues with these guys) is that they
will say that my warranty is void due to the X10 switch, and I'd like an
official answer from them now, with the reasons etc.

Cheers,
-Neil.

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