A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE: AOS), a leader in water heating and water treatment, announces three significant updates on the North America Water Heating sales team. After 34 years with A. O. Smith, Mark Gierla, vice president of Eastern region sales, will retire on April 1, 2025. Matt Patterson, national accounts director, will be promoted Read more
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A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE: AOS), a leader in water heating and water treatment, announces three significant updates on the North America Water Heating sales team. After 34 years with A. O. Smith, Mark Gierla, vice president of Eastern region sales, will retire on April 1, 2025. Matt Patterson, national accounts director, will be promoted to vice president of Western region sales in January 2025 as part of this transition. Jerry Lapour, sales director, will move into Patterson’s role.
Mark Gierla
Gierla joined A. O. Smith in 1990 as district manager. He relocated several times and assumed various sales roles along the way. In 2007, he moved to the Nashville area, and in 2010, he was promoted to the newly created role of vice president of regional sales. During his tenure, he’s helped launch some of the company’s most important product innovations — most notably, the Cyclone® commercial water heater, which still leads the industry today. Going forward, Gierla’s role will be split between the regional vice president Western sales and the regional vice president Eastern sales.
“We thank Mark for his dedication to our organization, his tenacity and his skill to drive the business forward,” said Chuck Dean, vice president of wholesale sales.
Matt Patterson
Patterson has been with the company for 12 years and has worked as a technical sales specialist in factory sales in Tennessee, a regional sales manager in the Northwest U.S. and most recently as national accounts director. He also spent two years on the A. O. Smith mobile marketing vehicle showcasing new products to wholesalers around the country.
Lapour joined A. O. Smith in 2023 and comes with many years of industry experience. He most recently worked for Charlotte Pipe & Foundry, managing the north central region. Prior to that, he worked with Elkay Manufacturing for 17 years, with responsibilities including regional sales manager for the North Central U.S. and national account responsibility for Winsupply, where he received the “Account Manager of the Year” award in 2020. LaPour is also a veteran and served with the XVIII Airborne Corps in Desert Storm.
Jerry Lapour
“Having experienced leaders ready to assume these new roles is of great benefit to the organization and I am confident these transitions will be seamless,” said Dean.
Bradford White Water Heaters pocket catalogs now use QR technology to ensure quick access to most up-to-date product specs, manuals, and other documents Bradford White Water Heaters, an industry-leading manufacturer of water heaters, boilers and storage tanks, introduces new printed and digital pocket catalogs that use QR codes to ensure contractors and distributors have quick access Read more
Bradford White Water Heaters pocket catalogs now use QR technology to ensure quick access to most up-to-date product specs, manuals, and other documents
Bradford White Water Heaters, an industry-leading manufacturer of water heaters, boilers and storage tanks, introduces new printed and digital pocket catalogs that use QR codes to ensure contractors and distributors have quick access to the most recent product specifications and documents.
The new catalogs were designed based on customer input and reflect Bradford White’s continuing commitment to meeting the needs of customers and business partners who are rapidly increasing their adoption of digital assets and information-sharing.
Traditional pocket catalogs, like other printed assets, can become quickly outdated as product specs are updated, new products are introduced, or older products are taken out of production. Bradford White’s new pocket catalogs equipped with QR codes allow users to immediately retrieve and view the most recent and up-to-date spec sheets, manuals and other product documents available.
“An overwhelming number of contractors have informed us that pocket catalogs remain a critical cross-reference guide,” said Carl Pinto, Jr., senior director of marketing communications for Bradford White. “Many of our customers and business partners have also adopted one or more apps or other digital assets to manage their businesses. Our new pocket catalogs ensure that they have quick, reliable access to the latest and most accurate product information, regardless of their preference for the print or digital version.”
Besides providing customers with quick access to the most up-to-date product information, each edition of the new printed pocket catalogs will be roughly 50% leaner than previous editions.
“With the new printed catalogs requiring significantly less paper, there’s an environmental component to this new design,” Pinto said. “Ultimately, we’re looking to drive 100% adoption of the online versions to eliminate paper waste altogether.”
The digital pocket catalog will ultimately be integrated into the Bradford White For the Pro® app, which is currently being field tested for release later this year.
For more information about Bradford White Water Heaters, visit https://www.bradfordwhite.com.
Hydronic heating offers complete, energy-saving system for homeowners When your customers are selecting home appliances, what priorities often drive their decision making? If the answer is cost, comfort, or environmental impact, they may be interested to learn more about hydronic systems, which offer efficient home and hot water heating simultaneously. When it comes to hydronic Read more
Hydronic heating offers complete, energy-saving system for homeowners
When your customers are selecting home appliances, what priorities often drive their decision making? If the answer is cost, comfort, or environmental impact, they may be interested to learn more about hydronic systems, which offer efficient home and hot water heating simultaneously.
When it comes to hydronic heating, there are different options: the hydronic furnace and in-floor hydronic radiant heat, which is most commonly used for homes in cold climates.
Here’s an overview of how one of these systems works and how they can benefit both you and your customers.
What is a hydronic furnace?
Hydronic furnaces connect seamlessly to select tankless water heaters and condensing boilers to deliver efficient, simultaneous home heating and domestic hot water in one complete system. Hydronic furnaces use hot water from a tankless water heater, saving installation costs—and making traditional furnaces seem like a thing of the past. By pairing them with propane-powered water heater, contractors can help their customers enjoy steady, comfortable heat throughout their home.
A propane-powered tankless water heater supplies continuous hot water—unlike a traditional storage tank with a capacity of just 50 or 75 gallons and required time to recover between uses—so the system can pump a constant flow through the heating coil and deliver steady, comfortable heat to the home without the need for a fuel-powered furnace, gas piping or an extra exhaust vent to the atmosphere. At the same time, the tankless water heater performs its primary job without interruption, prioritizing heating the water that is piped to showers, sinks, dishwashers, and washing machines.
These systems can be installed in a new home or added to an existing home and can be paired with an air-source heat pump to maintain comfort and efficiencies—even on cold days when the heat pump can’t keep up. Plus, this does away with the super in-efficient resistant heat coil for the emergency heat mode.
How can this technology benefit my customers?
With a hydronic furnace, homeowners can rely on steady, comfortable heating throughout their home, saving space, energy, and money.
Budget-friendly
A tankless water heater is typically more expensive than a traditional storage tank model, but some manufacturers offer the hydronic air handler for less than a comparable gas-powered condensing furnace. When you combine that with installation savings you end up with a lower cost installed product. Plus, because propane-powered tankless water heaters only heat water when it’s needed, they can help homeowners save more than $150 per year in energy costs when compared with typical electric storage tank water heaters.
Increased comfort and control
Comfort is one of the biggest perks of hydronic heating. In fact, many homeowners report that their heat is less dry than heat radiated via a traditional furnace. With a hydronic furnace, homeowners control the air temperature by setting a thermostat, just as they would with a traditional furnace or heat pump.
Sustainable operation
And for environmentally conscious homeowner customers, they can have peace of mind knowing their system is reducing emissions compared with other energy options. Notably, a propane tankless water heater produces roughly half of the carbon emissions of an electric storage tank system when full lifecycle emissions are taken into consideration. Plus, they’re aiding in water conservation efforts because hydronic systems create no wastewater. Instead, they take the water used to heat the air and recirculate it through the tankless water heater.
How can installing hydronic heating benefit my business?
The benefits of hydronic heating don’t stop with the customer. Plumbing and HVAC contractors can reap the benefits, too. The dual technology presents an opportunity for some plumbers to get into the heating business and some mechanical contractors to add tankless water heater installation to their line of services.
Some industry pros predict that builders will embrace hydronic heating as homebuyers already familiar with the benefits of energy- efficient tankless water heaters learn that those energy- and water-saving devices can also help heat their homes.
Visit Propane.com/Water-Heating to learn more.
Bryan Cordill is director of residential and commercial business development for the Propane Education & Research Council. He can be reached at bryan.cordill@propane.com.
The Rinnai® BMS Gateway creates a unique solution for hot water management Having a way to control and monitor hot water usage creates efficiencies for business leaders and facility managers but is often critical to keeping businesses’ doors open. That’s why Rinnai has launched the Building Management System (BMS) Gateway, a new product that will provide commercial Read more
The Rinnai® BMS Gateway creates a unique solution for hot water management
Having a way to control and monitor hot water usage creates efficiencies for business leaders and facility managers but is often critical to keeping businesses’ doors open. That’s why Rinnai has launched the Building Management System (BMS) Gateway, a new product that will provide commercial and vertical markets a software system used to remotely control and monitor Rinnai Commercial Tankless Water Heaters.
“Our brand promise is Creating a Healthier Way of Living® and we are focused on providing simple, affordable solutions for businesses,” said Frank Windsor, President of Rinnai North America. “The Rinnai BMS Gateway is the next step to empowering customers to actively manage hot water and help it run seamlessly through any building.”
Whether using the optional Touch Screen User Interface that acts as an enhanced controller or working directly through the BMS Gateway, businesses can remotely turn tankless water heaters on or off, adjust water temperature, monitor flow rates, operation hours and more. The BMS Gateway and Touch Screen User Interface also allows up to 15 view-only parameters such as water flow rates, combustion cycles, operation hours and error code history.
Businesses can pair up to six Rinnai Commercial Condensing Water Heaters per BMS Gateway, with up to four gateways per network, for a maximum of 24 tankless units connected thereby enabling greater reach. Additionally, the BMS Gateway works with Rinnai CU199 and CU160 condensing tankless models and uses BACnet, Modbus or LonWorks communication protocols.
“Many commercial settings, such as school campuses, healthcare facilities, multifamily and government buildings, are often required to have BMS capabilities,” said Dale Schmitz, Rinnai Marketing Segment Manager. “We are now able to provide customers with an intuitive gateway to remotely control and monitor Rinnai Commercial Tankless Water Heaters through a customer-supplied BMS system.”
Businesses can upgrade their tankless water heaters to include the BMS Gateway or install a whole new system and save thousands in acquisition, maintenance and energy costs. Rinnai tankless units offer precise load tracking, so the amount of energy consumed is directly correlated to the amount of water heated at any given time versus having to heat and re-heat stored water with boilers and tanks.
The Rinnai Tankless Rack System comes in Wall-hanging or Freestanding configurations, includes factory assembled manifolds for gas and water that are tested and warrantied, provides built-in redundancy and can be combined with up to 24 units to provide 4.8 million Btu.
Rinnai is here to solve the needs of businesses while also providing easy, affordable turnkey solutions. With the latest and greatest addition of the BMS Gateway, Rinnai is here to keep hot water running for businesses to stay in business.
To learn more about Rinnai, visit www.rinnai.us.
At Bradford White, our business is being there for your business. We are proud to be FOR THE PRO®. We recognize that your quality professional installation delivers our quality product right to the customer. So every day, we support you and help you be more successful in a number of important ways. Bradford White is Read more
At Bradford White, our business is being there for your business. We are proud to be FOR THE PRO®. We recognize that your quality professional installation delivers our quality product right to the customer. So every day, we support you and help you be more successful in a number of important ways.
Bradford White is Here FOR THE PRO® –and Here’s Why that’s Important to You.
At Bradford White, our business is being there for your business. We are proud to be FOR THE PRO®. We recognize that your quality professional installation delivers our quality product right to the customer. So every day, we support you and help you be more successful in a number of important ways.
Bradford White is Loyal to You, the Professional Installer.
Bradford White is committed to quality in everything we do. We recognize that our quality product requires a quality installation.
So while Bradford White remains committed to the highest quality manufacturing, we also remain committed to a quality, professional installation.
We Are Here for You with 24/7 Tech Support.
When you’re in the field working on a Bradford White product, we always have your back. That means you can call for support at any time and get the answers you need – FAST.
At Bradford White we recognize this important truth: when you give quality service to your customer, you are showing them the quality they expect from Bradford White. We see you as our business partner. We are in this together.
Our Exclusive FOR THE PRO® Website Gives You the Tools to Help You Save Time… and Do Your Job Right.
At Bradford White’s exclusive FOR THE PRO® website, you’ll find technical documentation on every Bradford White product. You can search by model number or product name and find all associated technical documents for any of our products. All the information you need is here.
You’ll also get a variety of videos to help you troubleshoot and maintain Bradford White products, as well as smartphone apps and answers to your customers’ most frequently asked questions.
Our online RightSpec® Tools can make your job easier. You can properly size and install, find the Bradford White equivalent for a competitive model, calculate efficiency of a unit and more.
You can stay up-to-date with the latest energy efficiency ratings, so you can help your customers save money. You can also help your customers take advantage of Bradford White product rebates. (This might also help you when you sell products to your customers!)
Grow Your Business with These Valuable Sales Tools.
At Bradford White, we recognize you’re always trying to grow your business (and make more money) while you’re doing your job. So we’ve loaded up our FOR THE PRO® website with valuable tools to help you with that goal.
With our FOR THE PRO® Sales Materials, you can communicate the benefits of Bradford White products more effectively to your customers – and increase your sales! From marketing literature to videos and even webinars, we provide the resources you need to talk about Bradford White products with your customers.
You’ll also find logos, product images and other graphics you can use to create your own digital and print materials to help you better promote your business.
Take Advantage of Valuable Cutting-Edge Training from Bradford White.
Bradford White is committed to providing training to help contractors like you stay on top of all the latest advancements.
Bradford White’s International Technical Excellence Center in Middleville, Michigan is a cutting-edge 18,500 square foot training center where we allow our contractors to go “hands on” the latest technology so they can better serve our customers.
You can also take part in training at our secondary training center in Rochester, New Hampshire. Here you’ll sharpen your skills with various Bradford White hydronics products.
Help Your Customers Find You with Our New, Improved Contractor Directory!
Right now, customers are searching online for Bradford White contractors. You can list your name in our Contractor Directory so local customers can find you FAST. You can also provide details about your business, your skills, photos from recent installations and use valuable lead capture tools to help you connect with interested customers. You’ll find complete information about our Contractor Directory on our FOR THE PRO® site.
Give Your Customers the Financing They Need – with Fortiva® Retail Credit.
Another way that Bradford White is here for you is through our Fortiva® Financing Program. As a Bradford White contractor you may be eligible to give your customers up to $40,000 in financing through this program.
Your customers can use this funding for a Bradford White Water Heater plus other installations, products, repairs, warranties and other service work they might need. You can finance any amount with no minimum. The process is easy, approvals are instant and you get paid FAST.
By offering your customers the financing they need, this program can help you grow your business and increase your income. See our FOR THE PRO® site for details.
Bradford White is here for the professional contractor. Click below to visit Bradford White’s exclusive FOR THE PRO® website.