Rheem Mfg. Co.’s gold award for the Rheem Prestige Series Hybrid Electric Heat Pump Water Heater in the 2014 Dealer Design Awards’ Residential Equipment category began with the development of the first-generation Hybrid Electric Heat Pump Water Heater, which the company brought to market in 2009. The company spent more than seven years conducting research for this product design.
Rheem representatives explained that it relied heavily on feedback from its wholesale and contracting customers as well as utility companies when creating this product. In addition, the company took customer feedback from the launch of the first-generation Heat Pump Water Heater into consideration during the development process. Prototyping and field trials played critical roles in the research and design as well.