When choosing a UV lamp for your gel do you go for one with 36 watts or 9 watts?
The answer is... neither, you choose a lamp that is suited and/or recommended for your particular gel system.

The wattage doesn't actually have much to do with the curing power of the lamp; it's the UV Output of the bulbs that cure the gel. You can get different amounts of UV light from bulbs with the same wattage!

The shape of the bulb and the placement of the bulb in the lamp also make a difference to its effectiveness.
The wattage refers to the amount of energy consumed when the lamp is being used.

When the photoinitiators in gel react with the UV light they cure... it depends on the speed of the photoinitiators as to how much UV light they need to cure. Slow photoinitiators take a lot of UV light to cure; faster ones need less UV light.

If you use a lamp that isn't recommended for your gel system then the chances are that you won't get an optimum cure, therefore you're risking potential over exposure from under cured product, excessive exothermic reaction (aka heat spike), service breakdown, brittleness of product from over curing, weaker enhancements and/or yellowing of gel.

Just because the gel looks cured doesn't necessarily mean that it is cured. You won't ever be 100% sure that you're going to get the best out of your chosen gel system without the correct lamp.

It makes sense to use a UV lamp that has been designed specifically to give you optimum cure for your gel, this gives you peace of mind in the knowledge that you're not risking overexposure to your clients by allowing them to have gel that might not be fully cured (even if it looks cured), knowing that service breakdown will be minimal (if any at all) and not down to using products and equipment that haven't been scientifically tested to work together.

When companies invest shed loads of money into design, chemistry, technology etc of products and equipment it makes sense to use them.

Purchasing a UV lamp is an investment, ensure you research thoroughly and make the right choice, not only for yourself but for your clients and the longevity of the enhancements you produce.

Make it your business to find out as much information as possible about the UV gel and UV lamp that you use!