Minimization of heat exchanger area for a specified capacity is very important in the design of refrigeration and heat pump systems, yielding space, weight and cost benefits. In this study, minimization of overall conductance and total area per unit capacity of refrigeration and heat pump systems has been performed analytically. The analysis is performed for constant temperature heat sources and sinks considering both internal and external irreversibilities. Expressions are obtained for optimum hot and cold side refrigerant temperatures, conductance and heat exchanger area ratios. The analytical results have been confirmed by those obtained from a detailed numerical simulation of actual ammonia based refrigeration and heat pump systems, and good agreement is observed. Such theoretical models can be employed as simple yet effective design guidelines for real systems as demonstrated here. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.