The basking light feature is why I stated they don't generally work with bulbs, that feature is new, a few years back when I was setting up my lizard cages I called Herpstat and Helix and asked about their units with Halogen Flood Bulbs, they told me while a proportional T-Stat will control them, they will kill the life of the bulb and they don't recommend them for use with bulbs, that was directly from the MFG, I have not messed with them since the incorporated the light feature, so I can't speak to what is different about them.