MISSISSAUGA, Ontario - The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada’s (HRAI’s) annual statistics forecast for the year 2008 projects that shipments of residential and commercial air conditioning units will increase by 2 percent while residential furnace shipments will decrease by 2 percent compared to the projected 2007 figures.

According to HRAI, residential air conditioning denotes split system air conditioning and heat pumps up to 5 tons; commercial air conditioning denotes rooftops (combination heat/cool), packaged cooling, and packaged heat pumps; and furnace means residential forced air furnaces of all types including gas, oil, electric, and combination.

The projected 2007 and forecasted 2008 figures are as follows:

• Commercial air conditioning: Actual shipments in 2006 were 45,499. The projected year-end figure for 2007 shows a drop of 2 percent to 45,000 while the forecast for 2008 projects a 2 percent increase to 46,000.

• Residential air conditioning: Compared to the actual 2006 shipments of 250,255, the projected 2007 figure decreases by 11 percent to 224,000. The 2008 forecast increases over 2007 by 2 percent to 229,000.

• Residential furnaces: Actual 2006 shipments were 323,214. The projected year-end figure for 2007 shows a decrease of 2 percent to 317,000. The forecast for 2008 decreases relative to 2007 by 2 percent to 310,000.

For more information, visit www.hrai.ca.

Publication date: 01/01/2008