Abstract The main limitation of conventional energy analysis for the thermal performance of energy systems is that this approach does not consider the quality of energy. On the other hand, exergy analysis not only provides information about the systems performance, but also it can specify the locations and magnitudes of losses. A number of studies investigated the effect of parameters such as the component temperature, and heat transfer fluid (HTF) temperature and mass flow rate on the exergetic performance of the same absorption refrigeration system; thus, reported different coefficient of performance (COP) values. However, in this study, the system COP was considered to remain constant during the investigation. This means comparing systems with different heat exchanger designs (based on HTF mass flow rate and temperature) having the same COP value. The effect of HTF mass flow rate and inlet temperature of the cooling water, chilled water and heat source on the outlet specific exergy and exergy destruction rate of each component was investigated. It was found that the lower HTF mass flow rate decreased exergy destruction of the corresponding component. Moreover, the lower temperature of heat source and chilled water inlet increased the system exergetic efficiency. That was also the case for the higher cooling water inlet temperature. Based on the analysis, since the absorber and condenser accounted for a large portion of the total exergy destruction, cooling tower modification with lower cooling water mass flow rate is recommended. Furthermore, increasing the cooling water temperature is also recommended as long as the cooling tower can meet the cooling load.