Hi, I'm Jenny. This is where my home-product notes live.

I've always been the person in the family who reads every review before buying anything for the house. Not because I love shopping — I don't — but because I hate returning things. If I'm going to add another gadget to a room, I want to know it will earn its space.

For years those notes lived on my phone and in half-finished Google Docs shared with my sister and a few friends. In 2026 I finally moved them here, so anyone else asking the same questions has one place to look.

What Vitherma covers

Guides and reviews of the everyday products that end up making daily life in a home a bit easier. It started with portable heaters and coolers because that's what I was buying first; it's grown to kitchen and cleaning gadgets since, and it'll keep growing to whatever earns a spot next. Nothing about central HVAC installs and nothing about DIY plumbing.

I stay away from anything I can't research properly. If a category is too specialized — commercial-grade equipment, anything that needs a licensed installer — I skip it. Better to be useful about a small thing than vague about a big one.

What Vitherma is not

I'm not an engineer, an electrician, a certified building inspector or a medical professional. I don't have HVAC credentials. Everything on this site is written from the point of view of someone who lives in a home, cares about how it feels, and does the research before buying. When a piece touches on safety — fire risk, electrical loads, sleep — I stick to what the fire departments and manufacturer manuals already say, and I link to those sources.

If you need certified professional advice for a specific installation, please hire a licensed electrician or HVAC technician. Nothing here replaces that.

How the research and testing work

Every guide starts from primary sources: official safety agencies (the CPSC, the NFPA and the Department of Energy for heaters and coolers), the manufacturer's own manual and spec sheet, and the fine print on the offer page. Numbers come with their source, or with the arithmetic shown so you can check it. When a maker's claim can't be checked, I say so.

Some products I test myself. When I do, the review carries a Tested badge at the top and says what I did. Reviews without the badge are based on research: the maker's published material, official sources and what buyers report, and the page says so.

How I score: every score is out of 5. On a Tested review I rate the same criteria after using the product myself, and the table reflects that use. On a researched review it is a technical score: I rate seven criteria one by one from the information I collected (does it do what it promises, ease of use, build and published specs, evidence and research support, price for what it is, checkout, guarantee), and the final score is a weighted average, because not every criterion counts the same. The table at the bottom of the page shows each score.

How Vitherma makes money

Some links on the site are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission. It never changes what I recommend or what you pay. When a review carries the Tested badge, it's because I tested the product myself.

I don't accept free products in exchange for reviews, and I don't have manufacturer sponsorships. If that ever changes, it will say so clearly on the piece it affects.

Where to start reading

New here? Start with the pillar guide: The Complete Guide to Home Comfort. It's the framework I use for every decision, and it links to the deep-dive on each specific question.