In the present study, the first and second law analysis of R422 series refrigerants (R422A, R422B, R422C and R422D) is presented as an alternative to HCFC22. A computational model, developed in engineering equation solver software, is employed for comparing the performance of these refrigerants in vapour compression refrigeration cycle. The thermodynamic properties of the R422 series refrigerants are computed using Refprop version 7.0. The parameters computed are volumetric cooling capacity (VCC), compressor discharge temperature, coefficient of performance (COP), exergetic efficiency and efficiency defects in system components. The results indicate that VCC, COP and exergetic efficiency for HCFC22 are higher in comparison with R422A, R422B, R422C and R422D. The efficiency defects in the condenser are largest followed by throttle valve, compressor and evaporator. Thus, the design improvement of condenser is of utmost importance to reduce the overall irreversibility and improve the system performance. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.