Not necessarily. There are a couple of types of dimmer switches for lights at least. The old school, rheostats. Then the switched to ones with triacs for lights. I would have to look it up but I think the triac version isn’t compatible with led lights.
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I would be surprised if you could find an honest-to-goodness rheostat at a building supply. Too big, too hot, and too inefficient for modern times. Variacs, variable transformers, are great, but would break the bank. Triac dimmers are just about universal, but you have to choose an LED bulb that’s designed to work with a dimmer. For this application LED compatibility isn’t an issue. Heat lamps are incandescent, so you get the heat you need where you need it, not just in the socket 
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Harbor Freight sells rheostats for router speed reduction. Maybe a little more money but useful for a lot of other things around the homestead.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=rheostat+harbor+freight
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It shows up with a search for “rheostat,” but inside it’s got a triac type circuit. When I was a kid, a rheostat was a big, relatively high power variable resistor. Most often, it had three terminals, like a potentiometer (pot), though only two were needed for adjusting current, and therefore speed or brightness, or whatever. To handle high currents, they’re made of ceramic, nichrome wire or tape, with bushings, shaft, and a wiper, made like a motor brush for really heavy duty. As you might guess, metal and ceramic are not cheap. Something that would probably handle a heat lamp, say 500 ohms and 300 watts, will set you back $60 us, and that happened to be from Aliexpress. Cost scales roughly as power, so they’re fine for dash lights, but painful for heat lamps.
That said (and more than enough ), while I wasn’t looking, “rheostat” may have become a generic term for power, voltage, or speed control. In any case, the router speed control is not too expensive, comes in a useful package with cord and outlet, and would be fine for heat lamps under 800 watts. You can save some by buying a lamp dimmer and an extension cord, and making your own, as Rindert showed.
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How is the micro homestead doing Marcus?
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Life has been mighty busy lately, sneaking in every available opportunity to go hiking, new job which is wonderfully 4 ten hour days. Interestingly that extra day off every week is immediately taken up by projects of all flavors, been deep on “holy crap it’s snowing and I don’t have firewood in yet!” Prep. Working with the rabbits and quail, discovering the ducks are probably the most messy animals I have ever had, just last week got 2 Werner pigs that we are raising at dads house. Last 2 days of crazy baking for a friends giving today
Couple packs of smoked coho from the freezer pile, 86 deviled quail eggs, one hen is a consistent double yoke layer
Life is busy busy busy right now. Already had one snowfall, and one wicked windstorm that resulted in 2 days without power. We survived just fine
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What new job? Inquiring minds want to know. Hopefully less hours commuting.
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Yes I’m significantly closer to home for work, an hour closer to be exact. It’s a odd job for me I’ll admit but I have a pattern over the years having friends that startup a company and I help get it off the ground and moving, this time around it’s a military surplus store. I run the warehouse and ship all the orders while my good friend the owner does all the marketing. One of the reasons I get to hike so much now is I am supplied with the equipment to do it and I’m paid to go out and take pictures and video for the company it’s very unique position that mixes obnoxious warehouse work with outdoors and I’m very much enjoying it. And for the first time in my life I’m paid what I’m worth that’s pretty damn nice haha
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