The present paper points out that the selection of elements for heat transfer enhancement in heat exchangers requires a methodology to make a direct comparison of the performances of heat exchanger surfaces with different elements. Methods of comparison used in the past are, in many respects, approximate and hence fail to predict accurately the relative performance of conventional heat exchanger surfaces operated with different heat exchanger elements. Owing to the direct use of the Colburn factor for performance assessment, these methods over-predict the relative performance of heat exchangers. In the present paper, a more consistent comparison method is presented and is demonstrated to work by comparison of the performance of an experimentally investigated pin fin heat exchanger with that of a smooth pipe heat exchanger. The method yields results that belong to the volume goodness factors group. It represents a practical approach, as it is applicable to all kinds of heat exchanger surfaces and does not require the conversion of the experimental data in terms of Nusselt number and friction factor for comparison purposes. The present work demonstrates that the suggested method can also be used for performance comparison of existing heat exchanger surfaces with available heat transfer and pressure loss data. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.