The optimal exergy-based ecological performance of a Newton's law generalized irreversible Carnot heat-pump, with losses due to heat-resistance, heat leak and internal irreversibility, is derived by taking into account an ecological optimization criterion as the objective function. This consists of maximizing a function representing the best compromise between the exergy-output rate and exergy-loss rate (i.e. entropy-production rate) of the heat-pump. Numerical examples are given to show the effects of heat leakage and internal irreversibility on the optimal performance of the generalized irreversible heat-pump. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.