Methodology
How UnitReveal decides what to publish, where its information comes from, and what it does when an answer cannot be supported.
Last reviewed November 3, 2026
Principles at a glance
UnitReveal is a reference resource, so the credibility of a page depends entirely on where its information came from. These principles apply to every technical page, lookup rule and equipment record on the site.
- Manufacturer documentation is the preferred source for serial number rules and product information.
- Government information is preferred for recall and safety information.
- Technical rules must have supporting sources.
- Information should include a review date where appropriate.
- Artificial intelligence must not be treated as the sole authority for technical equipment facts.
- Conflicting information requires additional review.
- When information cannot be determined reliably, the site says so rather than guessing.
- Users should be able to report possible errors.
Manufacturer documentation first
Serial number conventions are manufacturer-specific and sometimes product-line specific. For that reason, the primary source for a decoding rule is the documentation published by the manufacturer of that equipment: installation manuals, service literature, specification sheets and support pages.
A rule is only recorded with a reference to the document that supports it. Where a manufacturer does not publish a usable convention, no rule is created for that product line, and lookups for it are not presented as supported.
Government information for recalls and safety
Recall and safety information is drawn from government sources rather than secondary summaries. Recall status can change, so equipment pages direct readers to the authoritative record instead of restating it as a permanent fact.
Example authority
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission — Recalls
Public recall records for consumer products, including home heating and cooling equipment.
Open reference(opens in a new tab)Example authority
U.S. Department of Energy
Federal energy guidance and consumer resources that inform general equipment education.
Open reference(opens in a new tab)How a technical rule is created
Each decoding rule follows the same path before it can be used to answer a lookup. A rule that has not completed this path is not published, and a lookup that would depend on it returns an unsupported message instead.
- Locate the manufacturer documentation that describes the serial number format.
- Record the source: publisher, document, the section relied on, and the date it was retrieved.
- Write the rule and test it against documented examples for that product line.
- Check whether the format applies to every unit of that model, or only a production range.
- Record who reviewed the rule and the date of the review.
- Publish the rule with its source so it can be inspected alongside the result.
Review dates
Technical pages display the date they were last reviewed. A review date means the information was checked against its sources on that date; it is not a claim that the information can never change.
When a manufacturer updates its documentation or a government record changes, the affected rule is reviewed again and the review date is updated. A rule whose supporting document can no longer be found is withdrawn rather than left in place.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is used as a research and drafting aid. It is not treated as the sole authority for a technical equipment fact, and no decoding rule is published because a model asserted it.
Where a model helps summarise a document, the summary is checked against the document itself before it is used. Machine-generated text is never presented as a source.
Conflicting information
Manufacturers sometimes publish more than one version of a document, and third-party sources frequently disagree with each other. A conflict is treated as a signal that more review is needed, not as a reason to choose the most convenient answer.
When sources conflict and the conflict cannot be resolved, the site does not present a definitive answer. It reports that the information is unconfirmed and, where useful, points to the documents that disagree.
When an answer is not determined
Not every serial number can be decoded. Some manufacturers publish no convention, some formats changed mid-production, and some numbers are simply ambiguous.
In those cases UnitReveal says that the equipment could not be decoded reliably. It does not estimate an age, infer a date from a model number, or present a range as if it were a fact. A missing answer is treated as a better outcome than a confident wrong one.
Reporting a possible error
Anyone can report a possible error without creating an account. Reports are reviewed against the cited sources, and corrections are published with an updated review date.
Use the contact form and choose “Report Incorrect Equipment Information”. A complete serial number is not required.
What UnitReveal does not do
UnitReveal does not inspect equipment, diagnose faults, determine whether a unit is safe to operate, or recommend repairs, replacements or contractors. It organizes identification information and points to sources. Work on gas, electrical, refrigerant or combustion equipment should be performed by appropriately qualified professionals.
This methodology describes the standard UnitReveal holds itself to. Individual pages state their own sources and review dates.
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