Is it doomed to failure if the lights dim whenever the furnace/air conditioner see within?
Answers: Is it the blower or the compressor outside?
If the compressor outside is involved then I would not verbs. The motor driving that compressor is likely the largest motor contained by most homes.
The running current on these motors are upwards of 25 or so amps. Since a motor generally draws just about 5 to 6 times its running current on starting, you're going to see an inrush current of about 125 to 150 amps when that starts. If you hold a 200A or even a 400A service you will notice this.
All electric wiring has an impedance and the more current you run through it, the more voltage drop you will bring.
Another possibility is the transformer impedance. Most utility transformers feeding homes are of a sort of high impedance. A highly developed impedance will have a greater voltage drop as current go up. The utility can't really use a lower impedance transformer because impedance is directly related to the available fault current that the transformer can deliver. You can look at your breakers and see a number call AIC. This is the interrupting rating of the breaker. Most in a residence are 10000A. If you hold a fault to be exact higher than this the breaker probably won't without risk interrupt it and the breaker will basically explode. A complex impedance transformer will allow the utility to limit the failure current to a level low satisfactory to be safely interrupted.
Also it should be noted that incandescent lighting is remarkably sensitive to voltage variations. Your voltage may solitary be dropping a few volts when the motor is starting. This is hardly satisfactory to cause a show, safety or reliability problem. But a few volts will inflict a significant change within lighting from an incandescent bulb.
Because of these things you can not ascertain the integrity of your electrical system just by seeing the lights flicker when a ample motor is started.
Since all new(er) houses own at least "100" coming surrounded by, there should be no sense why the lights dim when your utilities kick on. This DOES nouns like a imprecise electrical problem. I'd call an electrician and/or an HVAC specialist as soon as possible. You don't want your fresh home burning to the ground should something spark. Good luck!
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