USA – The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), the trade association representing manufacturers of air conditioning, heating, and commercial refrigeration, and water heating equipment, have released the statistics detailing the May 2015 US heating and cooling equipment shipping data.

American shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for May 2015 rose by 10.2 percent, for a total of 394,780 units, up from the 358,326 units that were shipped in May 2014. However, the shipments of residential electric storage water heaters dropped by 0.1 percent in May 2015 to 345,819 units, a decrease on the 346,116 units shipped in May 2014.

U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters have increased by 6.2% over the year-to-date, totalling 2,040,295 shipments for 2015 compared to the 1,921,781 units shipped over the equivalent period in 2014. Likewise, shipments of residential electric storage water heaters rose by 9.5% for the first five months of 2015 to 1,991,150 units, compared to the 1,818,166 units that were shipped over the same period in 2014.

Similarly, shipments of commercial electric storage water heaters increased by 4.6% in May 2015, reaching 6,828 units, an increase on the 6,530 units shipped in May 2014. However, commercial gas storage water heater shipments dropped 2.7% in May 2015, giving a total of 7,827 units shipped in the month, down from the 8,045 units that were shipped in May 2014.

U.S. shipments of commercial gas storage water heaters have increased by 9.1% for the year-to-date, with 45,393 units shipped this year compared to the 41,602 units that were shipped during the same period in 2014. Year-to-date commercial electric storage water heater shipments have also increased, up by 12.9 percent to 35,289 units, an improvement on the 31,265 units shipped over the same period in 2014.

Shipments of gas warm air furnaces for May 2015 in the U.S. decreased by 12.7%, for a total of 183,407 units shipped, down on the 210,208 units that were shipped in May 2014. Shipments of oil warm air furnaces did however increase by 10.8%, with 1,469 units shipped in May 2015, a gain on the 1,326 units shipped in May 2014.

Confirming this trend, the year-to-date U.S. shipments of gas warm air furnaces have decreased by 3.0%, to 964,095 units, in comparison with the 993,559 units that were shipped during the equivalent period in 2014. U.S. shipments of oil warm air furnaces have increased by 12.2% to 11,977 shipments for the year-to-date, compared to the 10,673 units that had been shipped over the same period last year.

U.S. shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps reached a total of 737,173 units shipped in May 2015, a drop of 10.0% on the 819,477 units shipped in May 2014. U.S. shipments of air conditioners decreased by 9.9%, down to 499,250 units shipped in May 2015, a decrease on the 554,348 units shipped in May 2014. U.S. shipments of air-source heat pumps also decreased in May 2015 by 10.3%, for a total of 237,923 units shipped, down from the 265,129 units shipped in May of last year.

The combined shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for the year-to-date increased by 5.8% to 3,041,953 units, a substantial increase on the 2,873,898 units shipped in May 2014. Shipments of central air conditioners increased by 6.3% for the first five months of 2015, equating to 1,976,501 units shipped in 2015 compared to the 1,859,252 units shipped over the same period in 2014. The total number of heat pump shipments for the year-to-date increased by 5.0%, for a total of 1,065,452 units shipped this year, up from the 1,014,646 units that were shipped for the same period in 2014.