Hi, guys.
Solar-Brite (100W and 160W)
Nature Zone "High Noon"
Rep Pro "Spot Lamp" (a 60W MVB!)
and an Arcadia D3, which I know is a good bulb, except they only have the compact fluorescent version of it.
I just checked my test files and I tested one of the
100watt R30-size Solar Brites in 2006. (I'm afraid I haven't tested any since then - but they look the same as mine, in a recent picture Beardie Osk sent me on a link)
The one I tested did indeed run at 100 watts (unlike some brands of Chinese "60w" and "100w" bulbs, which are actually 160 - 200 watts!) produced quite safe UVB in the right wavelengths, and didn't decay too badly in the first 100 hours - ending up with UVI 3.0 at 12", which is nice.
Unfortunately I didn't test it for longer than 100hrs so I'm not sure how long the UVB will last. It should be fine for at least 6 months, though; the initial decay was quite normal in amount and that bodes well for a reasonable lifespan.
My only major reservation is that these are clear-faced "spot" lamps, so like all clear-faced reflectors, they produce very narrow beams. You'll see a very bright, small spot about 3" across, and this area is where almost all the UVB is to be found.
Although this is not ideal, it certainly was not a bad little bulb. These days "ideal" (a safe UVB output of about UVI 3 - 4 in a wide basking zone at least 6" - 8" across, to get the whole beardie's body inside it) is almost nowhere to be found in the USA market.
The
Nature Zone "High Noon" MVB is one I've never heard of, and a quick Google search revealed only pictures of the High Noon
Compact Lamp range... Chinese. So I don't know anything about that one.
The
Rep Pro "Spot Lamp" (a 60W MVB!) is another lamp I tested at the end of 2006. It says "60 watts" but IT IS NOT A 60W LAMP, it runs at around 160 watts!!! with a start-up surge of 200watts. This is why these lamps seem to be very hot - they
are! The Chinese have apparently admitted that they cannot make a self-ballasted 60-watt MVB, but they will put 160watt or 200watt lamps into boxes and label them with whatever the company asks for - 60w, 70w, 100w.... (this is not the only company to sell 160w lamps with low wattage labels. Big Apple SunForce bulbs are also like that...)
However, the Rep Pro I tested had been used for 350 hrs when I got it, (about a month's normal 10-12hrs/day of use) and it was giving me only UVI 1.0 at 12"... and the weirdest beam shape I've ever seen! It was like a donut ring... right under the lamp there was a little bright spot of UVB, then a ring with almost no UVB at all, then a ring of UVB of fairly low strength, about 18" from the centre of the beam. I can't say I'd find any use for it, myself, to be honest....
The
Arcadia D3 Compact Reptile Lamp is their medium-strength compact lamp, equivalent to the ZooMed Reptisun 5.0. It's got a good safe spectrum, like all Arcadia lamps but for a beardie, personally I wouldn't choose a "5%" fluorescent lamp, and I wouldn't choose a compact, even one with a good spectrum, because the basking zone from a compact is always so small, not ideal for our big lizards.
Of course, the lamps I tested in 2006 may be completely different in UVB output from the ones on sale now. But unless someone sends me samples (to the UK) I can't tell you more... :|
Best wishes
Frances