The heat pump system with economizer coupled with scroll compressor can extend effectively its operating ranges and provide a technological method to enable the heat pump to run steadily and efficiently in severe weather conditions. The intermediate pressure, namely the working pressure of the refrigerant in the economizer, is an essential design parameter and affects crucially the performances of the heat pump system. According to the exergetic model setup for the heat pump system based on the second law of thermodynamics, the influences of the intermediate pressure on the performances are comprehensively analyzed using experimental data of the heat pump prototype. It is found that the optimal relative intermediate pressure (RIP) is between 1.1 and 1.3. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.