It does seem like vendors would sell a higher wattage resister. Tha'd keep the heat down.
What kind of resistor does not produce heat?
"Unlike lamps, they do not produce light, but they do produce heat as electric power is dissipated by them in a working circuit. Typically, though, the purpose of a resistor is not to produce usable heat, but simply to provide a precise quantity of electrical resistance."
"Wattage means how much power the physical resistor is rated to handle. The rating is always for given conditions, such as the ambient temperature, or when mounted on a heat sink. You determine the power in a resistor by computing the voltage across times the current thru it."
The electronic voltage reducers used with fuel gauges might be different, but they are not a resistor, they are an electronic device normally suitable in a low power-draw application.
