Editorial Policy

Heat Index does not test products, so sourcing is the whole of its authority. These are the rules that produce every page, and they are stated here so you can hold the site to them.

Sourcing standards

• Primary sources first. The manufacturer's own product page, spec sheet or manual, not another publisher's summary of a press release.
• Every figure is linked. Each specification row on a product carries a source link to where the number came from. If you cannot click through to it, it should not be there.
• Non-product claims cite peer-reviewed or government sources. Damage thresholds come from published research on thermally treated hair. Electricity rates come from the US Energy Information Administration.
• Our own arithmetic shows its working. Every calculated figure is published with its formula and its inputs so you can redo it with your own numbers.
• Unverifiable figures are labeled, not estimated. Where a manufacturer does not publish something, the page says so. An empty row is information about the manufacturer.
• Third-party testing is attributed by name. Where another publication's results are relevant, they are cited as theirs. Never presented as ours.

What we will not publish

• No claim of hands-on testing. No "in our testing", no "we tried", no owned units, no test lab. Scooter M. has not used these products and every page says so.
• No invented credentials. No expert panel, no medically-reviewed-by, no license or certification this site does not hold. Nothing here is medical advice.
• No tenure language. No "long-time", "veteran", "seasoned" or "X years of experience". The byline is framed by genuine interest because that is what is true.
• No fabricated reviews, ratings or testimonials. There are none on this site because there are no customers to have written them.
• No remembered prices. Prices come from the live layer or the page says check price.
• No fabricated awards or press mentions. Several competitors run an as-featured-in row. Ours would be empty, and an empty one is better than a false one.
• No self-authored review rating in structured data. The visible score-style language on a page is editorial judgment; it is never marked up as a product review rating, because we do not run the testing that would justify one.

Refresh cadence

• Prices: daily, automated. Anything older than 48 hours is withheld rather than shown stale.
• Roundup pick lists: quarterly, and immediately if a pick is discontinued or goes out of stock.
• Comparisons: quarterly, or on the launch of a new model in the comparison.
• Guides: every six months, and immediately when a cited source figure changes.
• Trust pages: on any change, with the change noted.

Every page displays both a publish date and a last-updated date. This is a deliberate competitive position rather than housekeeping: pages in this category routinely carry prices and recommendations that have not been touched in years, with no visible date to warn you.

Corrections

We correct errors in place and add a dated note at the foot of the page. We do not silently edit a factual claim. If a number on this site was wrong, the page will say that it was wrong and when it was fixed.

To report an error, use the contact form and pick the correction option.

• Tell us which page and which figure.
• Tell us what the correct figure is and where it comes from, if you know.
• If a manufacturer source disagrees with us, the manufacturer is right and we will change it.

The contact form is here, or email info@heatindexco.com. Corrections get handled before anything else.

Independence

No manufacturer reviews content before publication. No brand has been shown a draft, no brand has requested a change, and if one ever does, the answer will be no and the request will be noted on the page in question.

How the site is funded is set out in full on the affiliate disclosure, and the methodology page explains how a pick is made and what disqualifies a product.

On how these pages are produced

Pages here are researched from primary sources and assembled with software assistance, then published under a named byline that takes responsibility for them. Every factual claim is traceable to a linked source, which is the part that matters and the part you can verify. Where a source could not be found, the page says so rather than filling the gap.