To my great surprise in late 2024 LG microwaves are shipping with very old-school halogen bulbs for their counter lights. In addition to not having clocks that run even when the power is out, this seems very low tech for a company who is trying to show itself off as a high tech corporate giant.
If you bought a Frigidaire you'd get a modern LED strip with fabulous light output.
Sadly, I did not. I bought an LG and I love to change things. You can now benefit from my regrets
Upgrading the LG Counter Light Output
My model is the one with the giant door, the MVEL2137F but I imagine these steps apply to a number of other 2024 models as well.
So, you need for this exercise:
- Phillips head screwdriver
- G8 / 50W equivalent, dimmable LED light bulb
- Our surprise guest, aluminum foil duct tape!
The steps are so obvious I'm not going to list them. There's one Phillips screw and one light bulb. Replace the old bulb with the LED bulb with one major hack.
Before you put the bulb in take a look at the inside of the light bar. Notice how dark most of it is? You need to cover the dark areas with aluminum foil duct tape which will turn the light absorbing chamber into a light reflecting chamber! You don't have to cover every millimeter, just 50-75% of it, so if you see areas which look like ventilation and you are afraid of taping over them leave them alone. The key part is to convert the inside from mostly black to mostly reflective, giving you significantly more light from your LED bulb onto your stove. Try especially hard to get the area right behind the bulb.
For safety, don't do the tape hack without also replacing the bulb. The reason is heat. The original bulb gets very hot (and wastes energy) when on, which could affect the adhesive in the tape but the replacement bulb you'll put in will stay cool to the touch, and put out more light than you had originally.
You are welcome.
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