According to the latest statistics from the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), combined U.S. factory shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps reached 765,362 units in April; that's a 19-percent improvement over shipments from the same month last year.
Heat pump shipments (173,156 units) were up 27 percent compared to April 2003. Total unitary shipments (2,353,907 units) were up 9 percent for the first four months of 2004 over 2003.