Editorial policy
The rules we hold ourselves to. If we break one, we want to hear about it.
Independence from money
Advertising and affiliate commissions never influence a ranking, a rating, or a recommendation. Advertisers cannot buy a placement, a review, or a change to a verdict. Where a product we rate highly has no affiliate programme at all, we still recommend it. See our affiliate disclosure for the commercial detail.
Evidence claims
We label every product with an honest evidence status and never overstate it:
- Tested — we physically tested the product ourselves. No product currently carries this status.
- Researched — assessed from manufacturer specifications, Energy Star data, and published documentation.
- Compared — placed side by side against alternatives on stated criteria.
We do not publish invented user testimonials, fabricated case studies, staged “hands-on” photos, or personal anecdotes that did not happen.
Numbers and sources
Every meaningful figure is traceable to a cited source or to a stated assumption. Guides carry a “figures last verified” date, a dated source list, and an assumptions-and-limitations block. Estimates are presented as estimates — rounded, prefixed with ≈, and never described as guaranteed savings. The full method is on our methodology page.
Review process
Research is AI-assisted and human-edited: a person verifies each figure against the cited source before publication. Independent expert review by a licensed professional is our next step and has not started yet — until a guide has been reviewed, its byline says “Not yet independently reviewed” rather than implying an approval that never happened.
Corrections
If a figure is wrong, we fix it and update the verified date. For anything that changes a recommendation, we note the change on the page. Report an error via the contact page with the URL and the figure in question — accuracy reports get priority over everything else.
Scope and safety
We publish general guidance, not professional advice. Electrical, gas, and structural work should be done by a licensed professional. When a job is genuinely unsafe for a DIYer, we say so instead of optimising for engagement.