A Simple Fix: How to Change a Broken Lightbulb

Forget the assumed joke that just breezed through your head after reading the headline. Changing a light bulb is, sometimes, harder than you think.

I live in a high-rise condo near downtown Dallas. I actually rent from a couple who owned the unit since the building was built in the early ‘60s. Interesting side note: My grandfather was the chief mechanical engineer on the building and my mother spent many hours here as a child when it was under construction. In fact, a couple of months ago I invited my grandparents to dinner and my grandfather toured the building with this proud, parental eye. I digress.

The refrigerator in my unit is the original that was purchased in 1963; and it looks it. Not in a bad way, the chocolate-brown monstrosity is almost back in style again, and the baby-blue, checkered diamond pattern on the inside door makes my friends giggle. Eight months ago the light went out. And when I got around to changing it last weekend I turned and turned the bulb counter clockwise — you know, righty tighty, lefty loosey — but it wasn't budging. So when I tugged a little, the glass part of the light bulb broke off, leaving its metal base still in the socket. After shocking myself several times trying to remove the piece with pliers, I decided I should do a bit of research. Here is a better approach.

STEP 1 Make certain that the power to the fixture is off. If the problem is in a lamp, unplug it. If it's in a hard-wired fixture, turn the switch off and put a piece of tape over it, or best of all, turn the breaker off or remove the fuse for that circuit and close the cover of the breaker or fuse cabinet.

STEP 2 Wearing gloves and eye protection, carefully snap off shards if they are still attached to the base; use a strong trash bag to dispose of the glass.

STEP 3 Once its ready, use a medium-sized uncooked potato as a bulb extractor by carving one end of the potato into a cylinder. Taper the tip of that cylinder and make a hole in the center of it to fit over the glass. Hold the potato by the unpeeled end, push it firmly over the filament support and into the base, and nudge the base out of the socket.

STEP 4 Install the new bulb, making sure your hands are clean. Bonus hint: avoid over-tightening it.

MICHELLE RENEAU