Environment friendly hydrocarbon R290 is one of the options for the next generation refrigeration systems. In warm climatic countries, water cooler is the widely used refrigeration application and R22 is the predominantly used refrigerant in these refrigeration systems. In accordance with international agreements, use of refrigerant R22 is to be stopped on urgent basis because of its environmental concerns, ozone depletion and global warming. This paper presents an experimental study on the performance of laboratory water cooler charged with environment friendly refrigerant R290. A laboratory water cooler of nominal coo ling capacity 1.5 kW is developed. Pull down tests and energy consumption tests at condensing temperatures of 38°C, 43°C, and 48°C is conducted as per Indian standard IS1425 (Part 1): 2001. Performance parameters such as pull down time, pressure ratio, dis charge gas temperature, average compressor energy consumption, energy consumption over a period of 24 hours, coefficient of performance and performance parameter of the water cooler refrigeration system are measured. Observed performance parameters also pr oved the compatibility of mineral oil with refrigerant R290. The overall performance of the developed water cooler suggests refrigerant R290 as a better long term alternative refrigerant for water cooler applications.