Are tortoises comfortable in a normally heated home or is it vital that they bask in an intense source of heat?

It's two things they get from a spot lamp area, the added heat helps them digest and it also helps their body produce D vitamin for growth and such for their bones and scales. The reptile lights provide for the sun rays that would help the reptile produce these vitamins. Use a reptile spot lamp, and a flourescent together, put the spot lamp on one end of the cage furthest from the water, creating a heat gradient within the terrarium. The warmth and the rays are both vital for the reptiles digestive process.

torts being cold blooded cannot regulate there own body temperature there for need a basking spot to wamr up under this is vital for many processes including digestion, they also require a UVB light

They need sunlight, a heating lamp or a heating pad. They are reptiles you know. A warm place does them no good.