ARLINGTON, Va. — Combined U.S. factory shipments of 761,032 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for May were down 10 percent compared to shipments for the same month last year, according to Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) statistics. Total shipments of 2,920,370 units for the first five months of 2003 are down 4 percent from those of last year.
Heat pump shipments of 159,599 were down 8 percent compared to May 2003. The year-to-date total of 679,588 is even relative to January-May 2002.