This paper presents Performance Evaluation Criteria (PEC) dubbed Penalty Factor (PF) and Total Temperature Penalization (TTP) for condensation inside tubes. This general methodology allows for the ranking of refrigerants for condenser applications based on their heat transfer potentials. Among halocarbons, higher pressure fluids have lower PF and TTP values than medium and lower pressure refrigerants, with ammonia outperforming all refrigerants. These PEC are also used to develop simple theoretical models for the optimization of condenser refrigerant circuitry. As examples, two condenser optimization cases arc considered, with the theoretical predictions comparing favorably with simulation results from a detailed heat exchanger model. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.