ARLINGTON, Va. — Combined U.S. factory shipments of 678,358 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for March were up 1 percent compared to shipments for the same month last year, according to Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) statistics. Total shipments of 1,516,778 units for the first three months of 2003 are up 2 percent from those of last year.

Heat pump shipments of 148,698 were up 9 percent compared to March 2002. The year-to-date total of 383,843 is up 10 percent from January-March 2002.

March distributor shipments were down 7 percent from a year ago, while year-to-date shipments are down 5 percent.

Publication date: 05/05/2003