A laser printer (10) having a fuser (220) to fix toner on sheets (214) in which the fuser element (225) heated by the power supply (121) of the printer is not capable of drawing enough power from the power supply to cause flicker. Thick or heavy media require more heat energy than paper. At cold-fuser start, the use of thick or heavy media is identified to the control system (14) and the control system adds a predetermined period to the normal delay to start printing. This invention may be implemented by a small addition to control software.