This paper presents experimental results for the heat transfer coefficient during flow boiling of refrigerants R134a, R245fa and R600a inside small diameter tubes plus a new heat transfer predictive method. The experimental database comprises 2047 data points covering tube internal diameter ranging from 0.38 to 2.6 mm, mass velocities from 49 to 2200 kg/m(2)s, and heat fluxes up to 185 kW/m(2). The data are parametrically analyzed and the effects of the experimental parameters (mass velocity, tube diameter, heat flux, refrigerant type and saturation temperature) on the heat transfer coefficient and dryout vapor quality are identified. In general, the heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing mass velocity, heat flux and saturation temperature, and decreasing the tube diameter. Moreover, the dryout vapor quality decreases with increasing mass velocity and vapor specific volume. The method proposed in the present study predicted 97% of the experimental results within an error margin of 30% and with a mean absolute error of 11%. The new method provided better predictions of its database than seven of the most quoted predictive methods available in the literature, and was also accurate to predict independent databases. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.