Are cheap reptile heat bulbs as good as Arcadia or Exo Terra?

It's contested. Multiple high-trust r/reptiles threads argue that brand-name reptile basking bulbs blow out as fast as $5 hardware-store bulbs, and that Fluker's and even standard incandescent floods perform comparably. On the other hand, r/BeardedDragons commenters and the Arcadia-leaning specialist communities consistently push for Arcadia deep-heat projectors and PAR38 floods as longer-lived and safer, particularly for snakes. The honest read is that cheap bulbs work but fail unpredictably; premium bulbs cost more but reduce replacement frequency.