ARLINGTON, Va. - Combined U.S. factory shipments of 730,851 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for March are up 8 percent compared to shipments from the same month last year, according to Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) statistics. Total shipments of 1,588,727 units for the first three months of 2004 are up 5 percent compared to shipments from the same period last year.

Heat pump shipments of 168,631 are up 13 percent compared to March 2003. The year-to-date total of 419,508 is up 9 percent from January-March 2003.

March distributor shipments are up 8 percent from March 2003, with year-to-date shipments up 9 percent.

Publication date: 05/03/2004