Hi Andy/ John. Sorry for butting in but I've had a bit of a go with these without keeping an accurate record of it. Like Andy I have a 6.2 solarmeter. I found the 100 watt was not powerful enough on the heat aspect. I believe this lamp must have been made to fit inside vivs or similar and it might be a bit tough on this lamp to expect it to perform over an open table.
The Arcadia 160 Watt I used several of and found this to be more stable and longer lasting than any 160 watt combis which I'd used previously. Having tried a few different ones the arcadia was better, but the others might have improved since.
I have basically switched to the T5 system with additional halogen lamps for heat as like you I find the T5 to be a very good product.
If your tortoises are getting over 200 uW/cm2 this might be too much especially if it is 12hours a day. What I do is to lower the tubes a bit after the uv has dropped off a bit.
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Testudo Hermanni Hermanni (Corse) tortoises
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