This paper presents an experimental investigation on nucleate pool boiling of saturated methanol on uncoated as well as copper-coated mild steel heating tubes of various thicknesses at atmospheric and subatmospheric pressures. It also includes the effect of heat flux, pressure and coating thickness on the boiling heat transfer coefficient of coated tube surfaces. Heat flux was progressively increased from 15,670.20 to 43,151.57 W/m(2) in six steps and pressure from 23.02 to 98.68 kN/M-2 in five steps. Boiling characteristics on such surfaces are compared with those on uncoated ones. Also, a criterion for enhanced boiling of methanol on copper-coated tubes is described.