Terms of use

Cold water and heat carry real risk

Nothing on this site is medical advice, and we are not clinicians. Cold water immersion can trigger cold shock, involuntary gasping and cardiac events; sauna and other heat exposure can cause fainting and dangerous dehydration. Both are riskier for people with heart or blood-pressure conditions, for people who are pregnant, and for anyone who has been drinking.

Never plunge alone, speak to a doctor before starting if any of the above applies to you, and follow the manufacturer's instructions for whatever equipment you buy. You use this information at your own risk.

What the guides are

They are readings of the published record — manufacturer specifications, warranty terms and owner reports — with the arithmetic shown so you can check it. We do not own these units and we publish no measurements of our own.

Specifications, prices and availability change without telling us, and a manufacturer's published figure can simply be wrong. Confirm anything that matters to your decision with the seller before you buy. We give no warranty that the content is complete or current.

The fuller version of this, including what we refuse to claim, is on How we work.

Affiliate disclosure

Some outbound links are affiliate links, and we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. We participate in the Amazon Associates programme and in brand partner programmes run through affiliate networks including Awin. This is disclosed in the footer of every page and again here.

A commission does not buy a recommendation, and we link to products that pay us nothing where those are the better answer.

Content and use

The writing, charts and page designs here are ours. Quote us with attribution and a link; do not republish whole guides. Brand names and product images belong to their owners and appear here for identification.

Do not use the site in a way that damages it or interferes with anyone else's use of it — automated scraping that degrades service, attempts to break the newsletter form, or anything unlawful.

Links out, and liability

We link to retailers, manufacturers and sources we do not control, and we are not responsible for their content, their products or their policies. Following a link hands you to them and to their terms.

The site is provided as it is, without warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any loss or injury arising from using the site or from relying on anything published here. Some jurisdictions do not allow those exclusions, in which case they apply to you only as far as the law permits.

Changes

We may update these terms. The date at the top changes when we do, and continuing to use the site means accepting the current version. How we handle data is set out separately on Privacy.