For common flooded-type evaporators, nucleate boiling heat transfer cannot occur on the heated tubes since heat fluxes and wall superheats of heated tubes are generally quite low. However, when the tube spacing is very small, nucleate boiling in restricted spaces can occur easily under low heat flux or low wall superheat conditions. The generation of nucleate boiling can effectively enhance the heat transfer performance of bundle evaporators. This study investigated experimentally the boiling heat transfer enhancement effects of the restricted space in compact in-line tube bundles with smooth tubes under various reduced pressures. ne experimental results show that the compact in-line tube bundles have a significantly enhanced heat transfer compared to those of the common tube bundles, and there is an optimum tube spacing that provides the greatest heat transfer enhancement effect. The test pressures have a marked influence on the boiling heat transfer enhancement in the compact bundles. The heat transfer enhancement effect decreases with decreasing test pressure. In addition, the heat transfer enhancement effects of the in-line tube bundles are also compared with those of the staggered bundles. Under reduced pressure, there is no significant difference between the heat transfer enhancement effects for the two types of bundles.