Although showing a few positive numbers, residential cooling and heating equipment shipments are still on the decline.

U.S. factory shipments of residential cooling and heating equipment declined in July, compared with the same month a year ago. Although, oil-fired, warm-aired furnaces and heat pump shipments showed a bit of an increase compared to last year’s numbers, according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).

Warm Air Furnaces

U.S. factory shipments of gas-fired, warm-air furnaces in July totaled 161,301, a 13.8 percent drop compared with the same month last year. For the year-to-date, gas furnace shipments totaled 1,056,915, a 14.8 percent drop compared with the same period last year.
Oil-fired, warm-air furnaces for the same month totaled 3,057, an 11.2 percent increase compared with July 2008 totals. Oil furnace shipments for the year-to-date totaled 21,526, an 18.1 percent drop compared with the same period last year. 

Storage Water Heaters

For the year-to-date, about 2,183,800 residential gas water heaters have been shipped, about 11.3 percent drop compared with the same period a year ago. Also, for the year-to-date, about 2,209,732 residential electric storage water heaters have been shipped, a 13.9 percent drop compared to the last year.
As for commercial electric water heater shipments, year-to-date numbers totaled 33,870, which is 18.4 percent behind total shipments of this product during the same period last year (41,523). Commercial gas water heater shipments (45,854) for the year-to-date are down 16.7 percent, compared with the same period a year ago (55,055).

Central Air Conditioners and Air-Source Heat Pumps

For the year-to-date, combined U.S. factory shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps shipments totaled 3,353,331, down 17.7 percent compared with the same period last year.
Heat pump shipments for July totaled 156,464, up 21.3 percent from the same month a year ago. However, for the year-to-date, heat pump shipments totaled 1,073,924, a 14.6 percent drop compared with the same period last year.