Agreed

Okay, sounds good. Imagine those spells used on you as is, pretty shitty.

I agree with your suggestions and was thinking of being a bit more generous even. I'll try to realistically apply the effects of having a swarm of insects or a hot metal object on you. When you get to 2nd/3rd level, try them out, and see if what happens seems fair to you; if not, we'll just iterate until we get it.