We read the whole record, and we show the arithmetic.
We do not have these units in our hands, and we will not pretend otherwise. What we do is read the entire published record (manufacturer specifications, installation manuals, warranty documents and their exclusions, electrical requirements, and owner reports from forums and retailer reviews) and then do the arithmetic the manufacturers leave out: BTU per gallon, kilowatt-hours at real electricity rates, five-year cost of ownership including filters and water. Every number on this site traces to a source you can open yourself, or to a calculation we show in full. That is a narrower claim than most review sites make. It is also one we can defend line by line.
What we don't do
- We have not bought, held, or operated any unit on this site.
- We publish no measurements of our own: no probes, no logged hours, no durability runs.
- Where the published record is silent or contradicts itself, we say so instead of filling the gap.
Most sites in this category imply more than that. Some of them are telling the truth. You have no way to check, which is precisely why we would rather tell you where our knowledge stops and let you weigh the rest accordingly.
How a guide gets made
Step 1
The published record
Manufacturer specifications, installation manuals, and electrical requirements, read in full, including the pages that contradict the marketing page.
Step 2
Warranty forensics
The warranty document rather than the warranty badge. Term length matters less than what voids it, and who pays freight on a failed compressor.
Step 3
Owner reports
Forum threads and retailer reviews read at volume, weighted toward reports that describe a failure mode precisely enough to be checkable.
Step 4
Arithmetic, shown
BTU per gallon, kWh at your rate, five-year total including filters, water and consumables. Every figure on a chart here is derived from a cited number, never estimated for effect.
How we are paid
The Plunge Lab participates in the Amazon Associates program and earns a commission on qualifying purchases made through links on this site. That commission is the same whichever product you buy, so it cannot decide a ranking. We accept no payment to feature a product and no free units. If we ever do receive one, that guide will say so at the top.
Corrections
Found a figure that is wrong, or own one of these units and can tell us something the spec sheet cannot? hello@plungelabhq.com. Corrections are published, not quietly patched.