I am a newbie, but I did a lot of research . . . here is my two cents:
Beardies need (1) general heat source, (2) UVB, (3) hotter basking spot, and (4) something as close to natural sunlight as possible. There are all different types of bulbs out there that achieve one or more of these goals. There are Mercury Vapor Bulbs that supposedly can achieve all of these things, other than heat without light for nighttime. They scare me and are expensive so I decided against that - who knows - maybe I will change my mind in the future.
Assuming that you are not going with a mercury vapor bulb, then you will likely need three items (assuming that your house gets cold at night):
(1) A florescent
UVB bulb - for beardies, the consensus (from my research) seems to be that ReptiSun 10.0 UVB
tube florescent that runs down a good portion of the cage is probably the safest bet. The compact/coiled UVB bulbs have been associated with eye burning and other health risks, but that was a while back and they could be better now - some say they are better now. I decided not to take the chance.
(2) A white/clear light bulb of a wattage that will create the correct temperature in the basking spot. I have a regular old clearish 50W halogen bulb that gets my basking spot to about 105 degrees F at its current distance. I have been told that 110 is better for juvies, but Pogo gets on and off his basking spot enough that I think the 105 is working for him (he also lays flat on it a lot rather than raising his head up where it is hotter - sometimes he raises his head as well - again, he goes back and forth, and for now I am assuming that that is his way of getting the right amount of heat). Note that this light also heats the cage during the day, so that the cool side stays at around 79-80 degrees F. I had to play with the position of the basking light and spot to get the cool side to the right temp, while also having a good basking spot.
(3) If your house gets cold at night (mine can get to 65 and lower in the winter), then you need a non-lighted heat source at night. From my research, the best bet for that is a Ceramic Heat Emitter. They look like funky light bulbs, but they only emit heat - no light. I have my UVB and basking/heat bulb on a timer - they stay on for 14 hours right now - and when they go off, the CHE automatically goes on. I positioned the CHE so the cage stays between 75 and 80 at night; it also has a dimmer switch, so I can control the heat by "dimming" (not really dimming, but lowering the output) of the CHE, or by moving the CHE closer or farther away from the top of the cage.
Remember the pet stores and product makers are there to SELL products. I think the red colored lights are good for nocturnal reptiles, so they can have heat and some light at night. Beardies are diurnal (like us) - they sleep at night, so light at night is bad (hence the CHEs which make no light).
Note that my cage is 36 by 18 by 18, or 50 gallons. I hope this helps a little. Again, this is all just from my research and how I chose to set up my cage. I am not an expert.
