ARLINGTON, Va. - Combined U.S. factory shipments of 829,372 central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for September were up 45 percent compared to shipments from the same month last year, according to Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) statistics. Total shipments of 6,672,380 units for the first nine months of 2005 are 8 percent ahead of those from last year.

Heat pump shipments for September of 202,659 were up 36 percent compared to September 2004. The year-to-date total of 1,613,425 is up 7 percent from January-September 2004.

September distributor shipments were up 39 percent from September 2004, with year-to-date shipments up 9 percent.