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Using regular LED light bulbs in a microwave oven's surface light

I have an over-the-range GE microwave oven, and I use its surface light quite a lot. It's great for illuminating the stove top, or just brightening the kitchen a bit. Sadly, the bulbs it uses are a weird size and they burn out often. Here I discuss how I installed common and inexpensive LED bulbs in my microwave oven.

Stovetop illuminated by Microwave Surface Light
Microwave Oven Surface Light with LEDs

Most over-the-stove microwave ovens and exhaust hoods still use old-school incandescent light bulbs. They burn out rather frequently, and it's a pain to replace them because it entails removing the glass panel with a screwdriver. To compound the pain, the weird bulbs are stupidly expensive. And since each bulb uses 40 watts of energy, cost to run them (80 watts) is ridiculous. I initially replaced my microwave's 40 watt bulbs with 25 watt bulbs, but that's still 50 watts, and they're still burning out several times a year.

I decided that I'd replace the lousy old bulbs with quality LED bulbs, but sadly nothing is as easy as it should be. The screw connector of the microwave's bulb socket are weird "intermediate base E17" sockets, and there are very few LEDs available in this form. The LEDs with an E17 base that I've found are both expensive and crappy. 

I figured that a "candelabra" style bulb could squeeze in, and it is easy to find Candelabra LED bulbs everywhere. But candelabra bulbs use an E12 screw connector, and so they won't fit into the microwave's E17 bulb sockets.

The Solution: the inexpensive E12 to E17 adapter. These friendly little devices make it easy to convert an E12 bulb to fit into an E17 socket. The downside is that the adapters make the bulb about 3/8 inches longer, so it's a tight fit. But it all works for me.

LED bulbs installed in Microwave Surface Light
Retrofit Microwave LEDs in Action
 

Flicker: Yes, cheap LED bulbs can flicker, and that's why it is always smart to by certified Energy Star bulbs. Yes, they cost more, but they last a lot longer and are far better at dimming.

Here's what I did to test it all out:

  1. Open up the microwave's bulb panel and remove the existing bulbs.
  2. Find a quality candelabra-style LED bulb. I only buy EnergyStar certified bulbs because they last far longer. Gauge whether the bulb will fit inside.
  3. If so, then we invest!
    1. Get some E12 to E17 socket adapters. Remember that these adapters add a little length to your bulb, roughly 3/8ths of an inch.
    2. Screw the adapters onto your favorite high quality LEDs
    3. Screw the adapted bulbs into the microwave
    4. Test
  4. Close it all up!

That's it! It was a tight fit, but it all went together perfectly. Even better, these bulbs will likely last for the life of my microwave oven, and it uses 70 watts less energy. As someone who uses that light basically 16 or so hours a day, my cost savings are more than $100 a year. WIN!!!


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