According to statistics released by both the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) and the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the industry as a whole has been on the economic upswing during the past few years, and the year-end figures for 2004 have inspired a lot of optimism as 2005 gets under way.
According to ARI records, shipments of 7,401,067 air-source heat pumps and unitary air conditioners eclipsed the previous record of 6,897,262 units set in 2003 by 9 percent. Heat pump shipments surged ahead of 2003's total by 16 percent as a record 1,886,100 units were shipped in 2004.