ARLINGTON, Va. - Combined U.S. factory shipments of 779,801 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for August were up 40 percent compared to shipments from the same month last year, according to Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) statistics. Total shipments of 5,843,008 units for the first eight months of 2005 are up 4 percent from last year.

Heat pump shipments for August of 186,056 were up 29 percent compared to August 2004. The year-to-date total of 1,410,766 is up 4 percent from January-August 2004.

August distributor shipments were up 14 percent from August 2004, with year-to-date shipments up 6 percent.