The first 4 months of Imp 6 merged plasma and magnetic field data have been searched for evidence of local regulation of the solar wind heat flux (Q) at 1 AU. Data from several extended time periods as well as a statiscal analysis suggest that the Alfv¿n speed is at times a prime regulating factor of Q through the relation Q∝ΔVc =&agr;VA. Here ΔVc is the velocity difference between the peak of the low-energy electrons and the bulk plasma velocity, VA is the local Alfv¿n speed, and &agr; is a dimensionless parameter of order 1.