In last week's newsletter, we looked at the warranty expenses of three U.S.-based industries in the building trades. This week, we're zooming in on the 2025 warranty costs of the U.S.-based manufacturers of appliances and HVAC systems.

Whereas we combined the two in last week's newsletter, along with our "23rd Annual Product Warranty Report," this week, we've divided the HVAC & appliance industry into two distinct groups.

We found 58 U.S.-based HVAC & appliance manufacturers that reported warranty expenses for a period between 2003 and 2026. 26 were HVAC manufacturers, and 32 were appliance manufacturers.

Of the 32 appliance manufacturers, seven reported product warranty expenses in 2025. They were: Whirlpool Corp., Middleby Corp., Manitowoc Co. Inc., Ametek Inc., JBT Marel Corp., Traeger Inc., and National Presto Industries Inc.

Whirlpool owns appliance brands Maytag, KitchenAid, and Amana.

JBT Marel changed its name in January 2025, after JBT Corp., short for John Bean Technologies Corp., completed its acquisition of Icelandic food processing equipment manufacturer Marel.

Newell Brands Inc., parent company of brands including Rubbermaid, Mr. Coffee, Crock-Pot, Coleman, Graco, Sharpie, etc., did not include a table detailing its warranty expenses in its 2025 10-K annual report.

Note that GE Appliances is owned by Haier, based in China, and is not part of these data for U.S.-based appliance makers. Similarly, this newsletter does not include data from Samsung, LG, Electrolux, Sony, Panasonic, Bosch, etc. Most of the U.S.-based appliance manufacturers make commercial appliances, while Whirlpool is essentially the only U.S.-based home appliance manufacturer that reports its warranty costs to the SEC.

Of the 26 HVAC manufacturers, nine reported product warranty expenses in 2025. They were: Carrier Global Corp., Trane Technologies plc, Johnson Controls International plc, Emerson Electric Co., A.O. Smith Corp., Lennox International Inc., Rockwell Automation Inc., Standex International Corp., and Tecogen Inc.

Carrier Global was spun off from former parent United Technologies in 2020, a byproduct of the merger of United Technologies and Raytheon to form RTX. While United Technologies was primarily engaged in the aerospace and defense industry, Carrier Global is a pure-play in the HVAC industry.

Trane Technologies is the successor of Ingersoll-Rand, which sold its industrial segment, along with its name, to Gardner Denver via a Reverse Morris Trust in 2020. Gardner Denver was renamed Ingersoll Rand Inc. (no hyphen), and the former Ingersoll-Rand plc was renamed Trane Technologies plc. Trane Technologies owns the HVAC brand Trane, along with the refrigerated transport brand Thermo King.

For each of the 58 U.S.-based HVAC & appliance manufacturers, we perused their annual reports and quarterly financial statements, and gathered three key warranty metrics: the amount of claims paid, the amount of accruals made, and the end-balance of the warranty reserve fund.

We also gathered data on each manufacturer's product sales revenue, and used these to calculate our two warranty expense rates: claims as a percentage of sales (the claims rate), and accruals as a percentage of sales (the accrual rate).

Warranty Claims Totals

Figure 1 shows the total warranty claims paid by the U.S.-based HVAC and appliance industries, from 2003 to 2025.

In 2025, the U.S.-based HVAC manufacturers paid $823 million in warranty claims, a -5% decrease from 2024.

Carrier Global paid $282 million in warranty claims in 2025, a -18% decrease from 2024. Trane paid $214 million in claims, a 17% increase. Johnson Controls paid $109 million in claims, a -4% decrease.

Emerson Electric paid $85 million in claims in 2025, a 4% increase from 2024. A.O. Smith paid $66 million in claims in 2025, a -16% decrease. Lennox International paid $47 million, a 14% increase. Rockwell Automation paid $19 million, a -9% decrease.

In 2025, the U.S.-based appliance manufacturers paid $363 million in warranty claims, a -13% decrease from 2024.

Whirlpool paid $214 million in warranty claims in 2025, a -13% decrease from 2024. Middleby paid $71 million in claims in 2025, a -22% decrease. Manitowoc paid $39 million in claims, an 11% increase.

Ametek paid $19 million in claims in 2025, a -17% decrease from 2024. JBT Marel paid $11 million in claims in 2025, a 69% increase in the year after the merger.

Warranty Accrual Totals

Figure 2 shows the amount of warranty accruals made by the U.S.-based HVAC and appliance manufacturers, from 2003 to 2024.

In 2025, the U.S.-based HVAC manufacturers set aside $970 million in warranty accruals, a 6% increase from 2024.

Carrier Global set aside $364 million in warranty accruals in 2025, an 11% increase from 2024. Trane Technologies set aside $244 million in warranty accruals, a 6% increase. Johnson Controls set aside $114 million, a slight 0.2% decrease from 2024.

Emerson Electric set aside $91 million in warranty accruals in 2025, a 4% increase from the year prior. A.O. Smith set aside $84 million, a 4% increase. Lennox INternational set aside $53 million in accruals, a -11% decrease. Rockwell Automation set aside $18 million, an 8% increase.

In 2025, the U.S.-based appliance manufacturers set aside $363 million in warranty accruals, a -9% decrease from 2024.

Whirlpool set aside $218 million in warranty accruals in 2025, a -7% decrease from 2024. Middleby set aside $72 million in accruals, a -28% decrease from the year prior.

Manitowoc set aside $33 million in warranty accruals in 2025, a 30% increase. Ametek set aside $21 million, a -16% decrease. JBT Marel set aside $11 million in accruals, a 5% increase. Traeger set aside $4.6 million, a 53% increase. National Presto Industries set aside $3.7 million in warranty accruals in 2025, a 259% increase from 2024.

Warranty Expense Rates

Figures 3 and 4 show the average quarterly warranty claims and accrual rates of the appliance and HVAC manufacturers, respectively. To take a look at the average expense rates of the two segments of the industry combined, take a look at Figure 5 of last week's newsletter.

Figure 3 shows the average quarterly warranty expense rates of the U.S.-based appliance manufacturers, from 2003 to 2025.

Over 23 years, the U.S. appliance industry had an average warranty claims rate of 1.92%, with a standard deviation of 0.59%, and an average warranty accrual rate of 1.83%, with a standard deviation of 0.55%.

The average warranty expense rates for appliance manufacturers have become far more stable over the past five years, especially compared to the seasonal variations we see in Figure 3 between 2016 and 2021.

In 2025, the appliance industry had an average warranty claims rate of 1.27%. The quarterly percentages ranged from 1.17% in the fourth quarter, to 1.33% in the second quarter.

In 2025, the appliance industry had an average warranty accrual rate of 1.29%. The quarterly rates ranged from 1.17% in the fourth quarter, to 1.37% in the first quarter.

Figure 4 shows the average quarterly warranty expense rates of the U.S.-based HVAC manufacturers, from 2003 to 2025.

Over 23 years, the U.S.-based HVAC industry had an average warranty claims rate of 0.90%, with standard deviation of 0.17%, and an average warranty accrual rate of 0.94%, with a standard deviation of 0.17%.

In 2025, the HVAC manufacturers had an average warranty claims rate of 0.93%. The quarterly rates ranged from 0.79% in the first quarter, to 1.27% in the fourth quarter.

In 2025, the HVAC manufacturers had an average warranty accrual rate of 1.10%. The quarterly averages ranged from 0.91% in the first quarter, to 1.53% in the fourth quarter.

Warranty Reserve Balance

Figure 5 shows the annual end-balances of the warranty reserve funds of the U.S.-based HVAC and appliance industries from 2003 to 2025.

At the end of calendar 2025, the U.S.-based HVAC manufacturers held $1.96 billion in warranty reserves, a 10% increase from the end of 2024.

Carrier Global held $893 million in warranty reserves at the end of 2025, a 14% increase from the end of 2024. Trane Technologies held $442 million in reserves, a 7% increase.

A.O. Smith held $210 million in reserves at the end of 2025, a 10% increase. Lennox International held $167 million in reserves, a 6% increase. Johnson Controls held $134 million in reserves, a 17% increase. Emerson Electric held $85 million in reserves, an 8% increase. Rockwell Automation held $22 million, a -12% decrease.

At the end of 2025, the U.S.-based appliance manufacturers held $348 million in warranty reserves, a -25% decrease from the end of 2024.

Whirlpool held $151 million in warranty reserves at the end of 2025, a -23% decrease from the end of 2024. Middleby held $80 million in reserves, a -19% decrease.

Manitowoc held $45 million in reserves at the end of 2025, a -1% decrease. Ametek held $45 million in reserves, a 16% increase. JBT Marel held $21 million in reserves, a 73% increase. Traeger held $6 million in reserves at the end of 2025, double its reserve balance at the end of 2024.

Check out the rest of our series of 23-year charts:

Vehicle Sector

• 23rd Annual Product Warranty Report
• U.S. Passenger Vehicle Warranty Expenses
• U.S. Truck & Bus Warranty Expenses
• U.S. Auto Parts & Powertrain Warranty Expenses
• U.S. Aerospace Warranty Expenses

Building Trades Sector

• U.S. New Home & Building Materials Warranty Expenses