In this study, the behaviour of a vapour-compression refrigeration cycle, for different refrigerants such as NH3, R-12, R-22 and HFC-134a was investigated using the exergy method. The cooling load of the plant and the saturation-temperature of the cold chamber were held constant, whereas the saturation-temperatures of the evaporator and the condenser were varied from 303 to 313 K and 258 to 248 K, respectively. The irreversibility rates (or exergy destruction rates) of sub-regions for the whole cycle, using energy and exergy analysis, were determined for each refrigerant. The effects of changes in the saturation-temperature in the condenser and evaporator on the irreversibility rate of the cycle were obtained for each refrigerant. The relations between the total irreversibility rate of the plant and the irreversibility rate of the condenser and the evaporator were determined for different values of saturation temperatures of the condenser and the evaporator. The COP of the cycle and the rational efficiency were determined for each of the refrigerants and compared with each other. Among the refrigerants used, R-12 was found to be the most economical refrigerant as compared with the others. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.