Shipments of HVAC equipment were mixed at the end of 2011, as reported by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), with year-to-date combined shipments of residential central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps increasing 7 percent, while U.S. shipments of gas warm air furnaces decreased 10 percent over the same time period.
Chris Nelson, vice president of sales and marketing, Carrier Residential and Commercial Systems, accurately summed it up by stating, “2011 had mixed results. We were encouraged to see volume up for the first time in a while, but product mix declined with the phaseout of the federal tax credit, as well as growth in the dry R-22 segment.”