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My CHE is hooked up to a low-end thermostat. The RHP is too. The heat panel is old faithful, but the CHE is intermittent. It is in a ceramic-based clamp lamp that is big enough for the wattage. I have had the CHE for about 2-3 years.

Sometimes the CHE does not kick on. I *think* it's a faulty lamp, but how can you tell when the CHE goes bad? I have replaced the lamp at least once in those 2-3 years. I buy the FLUKER kind at PetCo because the big box stores only have plastic base lamps.

Advice? What's your experience using CHE's?

I like CHE's I've had pretty good experience with them. I've had a 60 watt CHE since 2004. Its still kicking heat out like the day it was bought. I have it hooked into a on/off cheapo thermostat, so I can't give you a exact run life but if its been on 25% of the time its ran 2 years.
If you suspect the lamp's bad you could plug it into a regular lamp or anything that takes a light bulb and check the heat every so often or set up a min/max thermometer under it and see how it holds heat. I don't think you can really test it other than plugging it in and seeing if it makes heat.

>>My CHE is hooked up to a low-end thermostat. The RHP is too. The heat panel is old faithful, but the CHE is intermittent. It is in a ceramic-based clamp lamp that is big enough for the wattage. I have had the CHE for about 2-3 years.
>>
>>Sometimes the CHE does not kick on. I *think* it's a faulty lamp, but how can you tell when the CHE goes bad? I have replaced the lamp at least once in those 2-3 years. I buy the FLUKER kind at PetCo because the big box stores only have plastic base lamps.
>>
>>Advice? What's your experience using CHE's?

Also you said it seems its not kicking on, it takes a bit for them to warm up but after 5-10 mins mine seem to full blast.

I have CHEs going for 5 yrs at least with no burnout.

What I did find with domes is that the little blade contact can get bent down and be intermittent when the CHE gets hot, then cool, then hot, etc. Here is what to do to see if the dome is OK:

1) Unplug the dome. Very important.
2) Unscrew the CHE when it is cool enough to do so.

3) Using a flat-blade screw driver, get under the gold-colored tab in the center of the ceramic socket and bend it back up a little.

4) Screw in the CHE, but not too tight. Just so you feel the resistance of the contact below.

5) Plug in and see if it works.

Doing the above has eliminated problems for me. CHEs are heavy, and when I screwed them in, I would often flatten the contact to the point where the connection became intermittent when heated and cooled.