Combined shipments of 892,640 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for July were up 21% compared to the same month last year, according to the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI). Heat pump shipments of 203,542 were also up 8% compared to July 2004. Total shipments of 5,063,207 units for the first seven months of 2005 are equal to those from last year.
ARI also reported that for the month of July, factory stocks were down 158,741 units compared to June. Distributor inventories were down 116,084 units from July 2004. However, distributor shipments were up 28% from the same time last year, with year-to-date shipments up 5%.