The performance of an air to water vapor compression heat pump has been investigated experimentally. The main purpose of this study was to study the possibilities of using hydrocarbon refrigerants as a working fluid to replace R-22 for vapor compression heat pumps. Pure R-22 and R-290, R-600a, R-1270 were considered as working fluids. The performance of the system was characterized by compression shaft work, refrigeration capacity, pressure ratio, discharge temperature and COP. The experimental apparatus has basic parts of cycle that uses the air as a heat source. The experimental results show that refrigeration capacity of HC refrigerants is same or higher than that of R-22. On the other hand, compression shaft work of HC refrigerants is lower than that of R-22. Compression shaft work is lower than that of R-22. Come to the conclusion that, it is possible that hydrocarbon refrigerants could be drop-in alternatives for R-22.