USA USA A. O. Smith Corporation was the winner of the 2009 Water Heater Product Innovation Award—its second award in four years.The analyst firm Frost & Sullivan awards this award each year to the company that has demonstrated excellence in new products and technologies in its industry. A. O. Smith's award-winning developments are the Cyclone® Xi and Vertex™ water heaters. Cyclone was the first commercial heater to achieve efficiencies of up to 96%, in turn, the Vertex matched this mark for the residential sector. Both units have smart controls to offer more features to the end user. A. O. Smith also co-sponsored an Energy Star® program to bring more energy efficiency to the water heater industry and make the technology cost-effective for residential customers. The manufacturer's involvement involved education and promotion among consumers, architects and contractors.
