The full March 2020 Statistical Release with color graphs is available here.

Residential Storage Water Heaters

U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for March 2020 increased 7.6 percent, to 416,504 units, up from 387,118 units shipped in March 2019. Residential electric storage water heater shipments increased 11.9 percent in March 2020 to 401,348 units, up from 358,666 units shipped in March 2019.

Year-to-date U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters decreased 1.3 percent, to 1,162,074, compared to 1,177,772 shipped during that same period in 2019. Residential electric storage water heater shipments increased 6.1 percent year-to-date, to 1,167,238 units, compared to 1,100,587 shipped during the same period in 2019.

Commercial Storage Water Heaters

Commercial gas storage water heater shipments decreased 14 percent in March 2020, to 8,371 units, down from 9,734 units shipped in March 2019. Commercial electric storage water heater shipments increased 1.0 percent in March 2020, to 14,044 units, up from 13,904 units shipped in March 2019.

Year-to-date U.S. shipments of commercial gas storage water heaters increased 3.9 percent, to 22,854 units, compared with 23,779 units shipped during the same period in 2019. Year-to-date commercial electric storage water heater shipments increased 4.6 percent, to 39,365 units, up from 37,627 units shipped during the same period in 2019.

Warm Air Furnaces

U.S. shipments of gas warm air furnaces for March 2020 decreased 30.4 percent, to 244,961 units, down from 351,908 units shipped in March 2019. Oil warm air furnace shipments decreased25.5 percent, to 2,139 units in March 2020, down from 2,872 units shipped in March 2019.

Year-to-date U.S. shipments of gas warm air furnaces decreased 18.7 percent, to 675,250 units, compared with 831,007 units shipped during the same period in 2019. Year-to-date U.S. shipments of oil warm air furnaces decreased 23 percent, to 6,792 units, compared with 8,817 units shipped during the same period in 2019

Central Air Conditioners and Air-Source Heat Pumps

U.S. shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps totaled 851,939 units in March 2020, up 4.7 percent from 813,605 units shipped in March 2019. U.S. shipments of air conditioners increased 6.1 percent, to 546,992 units, up from 515,353 units shipped in March 2019. U.S. shipments of air-source heat pumps increased 2.2 percent, to 304,947 units, up from 298,252 units shipped in March 2019.

Year-to-date combined shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps increased 4.8 percent, to 1,950,971, up from 1,861,009 units shipped during the same period in2019. Year-to-date shipments of central air conditioners increased 6.0 percent, to 1,181,000 units, up from 1,114,034 units shipped during the same period in 2019. The year-to-date total for heat pump shipments increased 3.1 percent, to 769,971, up from 746,975  units shipped during the same period in 2019.

NOTE: A shipment is defined as when a unit transfers ownership; a consignment is not a transfer of ownership. Industry data is aggregated from the information supplied by AHRI member companies that participate in the statistics program and can be subject to revision. Published year-to-date data is inclusive of all revisions. No other AHRI data (e.g., by state or region) is available to the general public other than that published. AHRI does not conduct any market forecasting and is not qualified to discuss market trends. For previous monthly shipment releases and historical data, please see http://www.ahrinet.org/statistics.

About AHRI

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is the trade association representing manufacturers of air conditioning, heating, and commercial refrigeration, and water heating equipment. An internationally recognized advocate for the industry, AHRI develops standards for and certifies the performance of many of these products. AHRI’s 300+ member companies manufacture quality, efficient, and innovative residential and commercial air conditioning, space heating, water heating, and commercial refrigeration equipment and components for sale in North America and around the world.