Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Al Harrah
In Al Harrah in north-east Jeddah, small and medium hotels and restaurants concentrate here, needing critical air balance between kitchen ventilation and guest comfort. We balance pressure, supply make-up air to the hood and control odours and humidity to ensure high health standards.
- 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.
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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 Harrah is a fast-growing district of mid-rise buildings mixing small hotels, furnished flats and attached restaurants. The small hotels here operate centralised kitchens serving multiple guest floors, so the cooking load is heavy and humidity and grease very high. A weak or unbalanced hood exposes upper-floor guests to kitchen odours through the shared air system, and excess moisture causes mould in rooms and corridors. Here, pressure balancing and make-up air are not optional but essential for running a safe, healthy hotel that preserves its reputation.
Al Harrah in north-east Jeddah is a growing district mixing small hotels, restaurants and furnished apartments.
Most restaurants and hotel kitchens here use high-capacity ceiling hoods with large ducts, but without pre-calculated make-up air systems.
The AC setup in Al Harrah
- 1
High-capacity ceiling hood for centralised kitchen
Centralised hotel kitchens require very powerful ceiling hoods with high capacity matching continuous cooking volume throughout the day.
- 2
Strong precisely controlled make-up air system
Make-up air must be strong and precisely controlled to match hood pull and pressurize the kitchen, so odours and moisture do not rise to upper floors.
- 3
Dual insulated ducts equipped with grease filters
Ducts are dual and insulated for noise control, all equipped with front-grease filters and regular cleaning to ensure long-term performance.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Al Harrah
- 1
Prepare comprehensive plan of kitchen, floors and ducts
Send a detailed architectural plan showing the central kitchen location, floors, AC units and current ducts so we understand the distribution and loads.
- 2
Identify roof location and outdoor openings for vents
Check the hotel roof and confirm available outdoor openings for hood and make-up air ducts without disrupting the external façade.
- 3
Arrange a routine maintenance schedule with management
Discuss with hotel management a weekly hood and duct cleaning schedule to ensure continuous service and guest and staff safety.
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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.
Guests upstairs smell the kitchen through the AC, how do we solve this?
The shared air system carries kitchen odours upstairs when kitchen pressure drops. We raise make-up air to pressurize the kitchen, so odours do not rise through the building.
Humidity and mould in guest rooms, is it from the kitchen?
Yes, partly. A central kitchen without sufficient make-up air pulls cooking moisture into the shared system and it reaches guest rooms. We exhaust moisture directly from the kitchen by raising hood and make-up air together.
Guests complain of high heat in rooms despite AC, is the kitchen involved?
Yes, a strong hood without make-up air pulls cool air from guest rooms to the kitchen. We equalize the pull with strong conditioned make-up air that pressurizes the kitchen, reducing the draw from rooms.
How often must we clean a small hotel's central kitchen hood?
Small hotel kitchens with heavy cooking loads need thorough cleaning roughly every two weeks to prevent blockages, fire risk and keep coils intact.
