As a result of the ban of the CFC fluids in 2000 and the future limitation of HCFC fluids, which manufacture limit is the year 2010, refrigerant producers have been working to develop different mixtures, mainly based on HFC fluids, which emulate the properties of the former refrigerants used in refrigeration plants. At the moment, the HFC-404A and the HFC-507A are the more widely used fluids in Europe as replacement of the CFC-502 in plants operating at low temperatures. This work presents the experimental evaluation, from an energy point of view, of both refrigerants in the same refrigeration plant, which corresponds to a double-stage vapour compression plant driven by a compound compressor. The characterization was made for an evaporating temperature range between -36 and -20 degrees C for a constant condensing temperature of 40 degrees C. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.