ARLINGTON, Va. - Combined United States factory shipments of 678,833 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for April were down 11 percent compared to shipments from April 2004, according to the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI).

Heat pump shipments of 168,804 also dropped three percent compared to April 2004. Total shipments of 2,346,353 for the first four months of the year are even with those of last year, which was a record-setting year for the HVAC industry.

Publication date: 06/13/2005