This dashboard surfaces national HVAC and water heating appliance shipments data provided by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) to the general public. A shipment occurs when an appliance is transferred from a manufacturer elsewhere, such as to a distributor. Shipments can be taken as a general proxy for sales, though should not be directly equated to sales. This information is subdivided into the following three product categories: water heating, space heating, and cooling. Appliances included are residential and commercial tank water heaters (electric and gas), warm air furnaces (gas and fuel oil), central (ducted) air source heat pumps, and central air conditioning units. As they are dual function, central air source heat pumps are defined as both heating and cooling appliances.

To read more about our methodology click here.

Methodology

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) issues a monthly report of combined U.S. manufactured shipments of central air conditioning, air-source heat pumps systems, gas and oil furnaces, and gas and electric tank water heaters. For all data released prior to July 2020, Atlas staff manually extracted information from monthly reports followed by a robust validation process to ensure accuracy. For all shipments made after July 2020, Atlas follows an automated process to update the data after every second Friday of the month for shipments made two months prior, operating on AHRI’s data release schedule (Ex: The January monthly shipment report will be made available on March 10th).

AHRI collects this data by aggregating industry data supplied by member companies that participate in the AHRI statistics program.

As noted by AHRI, a shipment is defined as when an appliance transfers ownership; a consignment is not a transfer of ownership. In other words, appliance shipments refer to the movement of products from manufacturers to distributors on the ground. While this information can serve as a general proxy for appliance sales, shipments data cannot be directly equated with sales.

See below for the list of appliances included in this dashboard as well as the product category to which they are mapped. As they are dual action, central air source heat pumps are included as both space heating and cooling appliances. Users can also filter by appliance type through the yellow filter bar to the right of the screen. Shipment data for electric tank water heater may include a certain number of heat pump water heaters, but those specific data are unknown. Water heating data is divided by building type as well as fuel, whereas no building type specification is made for space heating or cooling data.

Appliance Type Product Category 
Central (Ducted) Air Source Heat Pump Space Heating; Cooling
Central (Unitary) Air Conditioner Cooling
Gas Warm Air Furnace Space Heating
Fuel Oil Warm Air Furnace Space Heating
Residential Electric Tank Water Heater Water Heating
Residential Gas Tank Water Heater Water Heating
Commerical Electric Tank Water Heater Water Heating
Commercial Gas Tank Water Heater Water Heating

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