ARLINGTON, Va. — According to the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), shipments of central air conditioners and air source heat pumps jumped 7 percent in 2002 to a record 6,746,326 units, eclipsing 2000’s record shipments of 6,685,481 units and last year’s total of 6,281,443.

Heat pump shipments of 1,483,599 units had a record year, up 2 percent from 2001’s 1,442,355 units. Combined shipments of 373,284 central air conditioners and air source heat pumps for December were up 10 percent compared to December 2001.

Factory stocks for December 2002 were down 61,654 units from November 2002 and up 101,742 units from December 2001. Distributor inventories for December 2002 were up 1,894 units from November 2002 and down 167,499 units from December 2001. Finally, distributor shipments for December 2002 were up 7 percent from December 2001 with year-to-date shipments up 7 percent.

Publication date: 02/10/2003