ARLINGTON, Va. - Shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps set a record in 2003 with 6,807,262 units shipped, a 1 percent increase from 2002's total of 6,746,326 units, according to Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) statistics.

Heat pump shipments also hit a record in 2003 with 1,626,365 units shipped, a 10 percent jump from the 2002 record of 1,483,599 units.

For December 2003, combined shipments of 363,647 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps were down 3 percent compared to shipments from the same month the previous year. Heat pump shipments for December totaled 109,313 units, up 1 percent compared to December 2002.

Distributor shipments for 2003 were even with 2002. December distributor shipments were down 1 percent compared with December 2002.

Publication date: 02/02/2004