Heat Shields - Waste of money or an essential purchase?

[PhatJay]

Go with the adjust-a-wing, the socket that comes with them is very good. You can go with an imitation, but you'll get what you pay for.

I went with the midrange adjustawing in the end (the white one that produces a 1x0.75m rectangle of light) the more expensive one was designed to spread the light over an area larger than my tent. I am very impressed so far, like you say, they come with a high quality bulb holder and I really like the way the reflector can be assembled/dis-assembled and flat packed without the need for any tools.

Regarding the bulb with a switchable digital balast, I use Lumatex 600w switchable and don't change the lights when I turn them down and they work great.

I thought running bulbs at lower wattages altered the light spectrum? I am running a 250w bulb@300w as I was advised this would produce a better spectrum than running a 400w bulb@300w (I bought a 250 and a 400w bulb).