ATLANTA — Rheem’s ProTerra Plug-In Heat Pump Water Heater has been named a CES 2023 Innovation Award winner in the Sustainability, Eco-Design & Smart Energy category. The CES Awards program is an annual global competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in 28 consumer technology product categories. More than 2,100 products were submitted for consideration this year.

Water heating is the second highest energy user in a home and over seven million water heaters are replaced each year. Rheem’s ProTerra Plug-In Heat Pump Water Heater is a smart, drop-in replacement for gas-to-electric water heater conversions and an innovation that helps homeowners lower energy use and reduce their carbon footprint. 

“Rheem has been focused on innovating around sustainable replacement options to help homeowners and multifamily property owners cut energy usage and reduce carbon emissions,” said Scott Cohen, director, marketing and training, Rheem. “To be recognized by CES is an honor and a testament to the enormous positive impact this technology can have.”

The ProTerra Plug-in technology allows homes that have been set up for gas appliances the ability to switch to a more efficient electric heat pump water heater without having to incur costly electric panel upgrades. The ProTerra heat pump water heaters are five times more efficient than a traditional gas tank water heater and can reduce energy consumption by up to 80%.

There are two Rheem ProTerra Plug-In Heat Pump Water Heater models, both of which are ENERGY STAR Certified and Wi-Fi enabled. Through the Rheem EcoNet app, homeowners can adjust water temperature, track energy usage and program the unit throughout the day, taking advantage of lower time-of-use energy rates.

A complete list of the CES Innovation Award honorees can be found at CES.tech/innovation.