Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Al Hamdaniyah
In Al Hamdaniyah, east Jeddah, restaurants and cafés serve dense residential areas and need exact balance between the kitchen hood and fresh air. Alrabih cleans coils of grease and ensures kitchen smells do not spread to the dining tables.
- Pressure balance
- Make-up air
- Coil protection
Clients We're Proud to Serve
Organisations and companies that trusted Alrabih with their projects.
When your restaurant needs a specialist
- 1
Kitchen smells reaching diners
When the extract hood pulls out more air than is replaced, the kitchen goes negative and draws air from the dining room, bringing smells with it. The answer is calculating the volumes and delivering make-up air close to the hood.
- 2
Dining room stays warm despite the AC
A full dining room in Jeddah's humid summer raises heat and moisture load noticeably. Design must account for peak occupancy, and the right diffuser layout achieves even cooling across tables, not cold near the duct and warm in the corners.
- 3
Repeated breakdowns in kitchen AC units
Grease vapour from the burners settles on evaporator coils and blocks airflow, raising pressure and stressing the compressor. Placing the unit away from grease currents and scheduling coil cleaning reduces this damage significantly.
Who it's for
Opening a new restaurant that needs a full HVAC system
We design the cooling and make-up air system from scratch to match your kitchen and dining layout before you open.
Ask on WhatsAppYour restaurant is running but smells are reaching the tables
We survey the existing system, measure pressure between kitchen and dining, then correct the fault by adding make-up air or adjusting the air balance.
Ask on WhatsApp
What the work covers
- Kitchen and dining pressure survey
- Make-up air for hood
- Diffuser layout for dining
- Ductwork to SMACNA standards
- Air balance commissioning
How we work
How we work
- 1
Site and kitchen survey
We visit, measure the spaces, review the existing extract hood and burner positions, and find where negative pressure is occurring before any design work.
- 2
Design and equipment selection
We design the make-up air and cooling systems together, and select units from Carrier, YORK, General, Midea, Gree or Smart Gold to suit the space and the load.
- 3
Duct fabrication and installation
We fabricate ducts in our workshop from G90 galvanised sheet to precise sizes, install the units, and run Mueller copper in runs of up to 30 metres without welded joints, insulated with Armaflex.
- 4
Balancing and handover
We run the system and adjust dampers until the kitchen sits at slight negative and the dining room at slight positive, confirming that doors open easily and no kitchen smell crosses to the guests.
Integrated design or separate units with no balance?
| Alrabih | The usual way | |
|---|---|---|
| Make-up air | Calculated and delivered to the hood | Usually not addressed |
| Dining pressure | Slight positive, no smell transfer | Negative, pulls kitchen air in |
| Coil protection | Unit placed away from grease | Repeated breakdowns |
| Cooling spread | Diffusers sized for full occupancy | Uneven, warm corners |
| Kitchen ductwork | Fabricated in-house from G90 sheet | Off-the-shelf sizes, poor fit |
Everything your AC needs, from one team
From system design and duct fabrication to installation, commissioning and maintenance.
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Some of our work
Ductwork, rooftop units and diffusers, from work we've completed in Jeddah.
Customer reviews
What our customers say
- Muhammadramzan 2641
“MashaaAllah. Services are so good. Behaviour and kindness 100/100. Prices are less then Market. Fully recommended”
- shahzeb armani
“Wow. Prices are so comfortable. Outstanding services. People are so talented and nice”
- Tawfik AlyawerLocal Guide
“U can find all u need for air conditioning”
Your satisfaction matters to us! If you had a great experience with us, we'd love a 5-star rating and a kind review.
Worked with us? Leave a reviewService areas
We come to you anywhere in Jeddah
From Al Shiraa and Al Yaqout in the north to Al Thaghr and Al Quraiyat in the south, with our base in Al Aziziyah.
What sets this district apart
Al Hamdaniyah is an active residential district with mid-rise apartment buildings and fairly wide streets, scattered with small and medium restaurants and cafés. These establishments often lack complex central AC systems and instead use separate units or simple kitchen and dining setups. However, because of high summer heat and humidity, grease builds up rapidly in the hood and coils, cutting performance and raising electricity bills.
Al Hamdaniyah is in east Jeddah, a dense residential district with mid-rise buildings and wide streets.
Most small restaurants in Al Hamdaniyah use simple hoods and separate cooling coils for kitchen and dining, without complex pressure balancing.
The AC setup in Al Hamdaniyah
- 1
Simple hood with separate coils for kitchen and dining
Most small restaurants here rely on a basic kitchen hood and independent cooling coils per zone, without advanced pressure systems.
- 2
Split units serving kitchen and dining areas
Some small restaurants use standard split units distributed between kitchen and dining, which eases installation but complicates pressure balance.
- 3
Outdoor air intake from street-facing building wall
Most restaurants draw fresh air directly through the building's street-facing facade, requiring robust filters to clean dust and pollutants.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Al Hamdaniyah
- 1
Give the owner at least one day's notice
Small restaurants run tight operations. Tell the owner well in advance so he can coordinate with the kitchen and minimise disruption during the visit.
- 2
Verify access to the hood and coils
Small kitchens can be tight. Check that the passageway and ceiling allow the maintenance team to enter with tools and work safely.
- 3
Locate the outdoor air intake point
Ask the owner where fresh air enters the system, from the roof, building wall or directly from the street, so you can plan the visit correctly.
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FAQ
Questions about Restaurant & cafe HVAC
What is the difference between make-up air and kitchen air conditioning?
Make-up air replaces the volume the hood extracts, its purpose is pressure balance not necessarily cooling. Kitchen air conditioning tackles burner heat and lowers temperature for the staff. Both may be needed, and the site survey determines which your kitchen requires.
Do outdoor seating areas need a different approach in Jeddah?
Yes. In Jeddah's heat and humidity, fans alone are not enough during peak months. The right option depends on whether the space has an open roof or a partial enclosure and how large the area is. We assess the spot and propose suitable units after the survey.
How are AC coils protected from kitchen grease?
The first step is design: we position kitchen units in airflow paths away from the grease rising off the burners. In preventive maintenance contracts we schedule pressure coil cleaning before build-up raises stress on the compressor, because early cleaning is simpler and less costly than a repair.
Can existing ductwork in an operating restaurant be repaired or does it need replacing?
The decision follows a duct inspection: we look for air leaks, grease build-up inside, and sheet corrosion from Jeddah's salty air. If the structure is sound we seal joints with Foster sealants and re-insulate with Kimmco. If not, we fabricate new sections in our workshop and replace the damaged runs.
Does a packed dining room during peak season affect how the AC performs?
Yes, every person in the room adds heat and moisture, and this is significant in Jeddah's summer. Design therefore accounts for full occupancy load, not average attendance, and diffusers are positioned to deliver even cooling across all tables. The exact layout is confirmed after the site survey.
The kitchen is cold but the dining room is hot, why?
The dining coils may be clogged with grease from the hood, or cold air is being pulled mostly to the kitchen. We inspect the hood and coils and redistribute the airflow more evenly.
The kitchen hood pulls cold air from the dining room, how do we stop that?
We increase fresh air supply to the kitchen to match the strong hood extraction, so cold air from the dining room is not pulled away.
Grease clogs the coils quickly, how do we maintain them?
We install effective grease filters in the hood and schedule regular coil cleaning, especially in summer when usage is high and grease dries faster.
Fresh air intake is from a busy main street, does that affect the system?
Yes, street air carries more dust and pollution. We check the outdoor air filter, increase cleaning frequency and may add an extra filter to protect the coils.
