ARLINGTON, VA — Combined U.S. factory shipments of 433,386 unitary air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for January represented a 25% jump over the same month last year, according to Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) statistics.

The first month’s total set a new all-time record for January shipments and included 94,642 heat pumps, which were 11% ahead of last year.

January factory stocks were up 86,256 units from December 1999, and were up 115,044 units from January 99.

Distributor inventories for January grew by 61,227 units over December 1999, and were up 76,273 units over January 99. January distributor shipments were up 16% from January 99.