Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Al Jawharah
In Al Jawharah, south Jeddah, restaurants and cafes need careful balance between kitchen extract and fresh air for guests. Alrabih's balanced system keeps the dining room cool and clear while venting cooking fumes and odours efficiently.
- 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 Jawharah is a modern commercial growth area with varied shops and restaurants in relatively newer, medium-sized buildings. Restaurants and cafes here suffer negative air pressure when the kitchen hood pulls hard, making doors difficult to open and cooking smells spreading into the dining area, especially during peak hours. Balancing the AC and incoming air needs a bespoke design to replace what the kitchen pulls and keep the guest hall fresh.
Al Jawharah lies in south Jeddah, a modern commercial zone with shops, hotels and restaurants in contemporary buildings.
Most restaurants and cafes here have powerful kitchen hoods and central AC systems that need precise balancing to avoid negative pressure.
The AC setup in Al Jawharah
- 1
Central AC with separate kitchen hood system
Most Al Jawharah restaurants and cafes use central AC for the guest area and a strong hood for the kitchen, requiring careful balancing.
- 2
Treated outdoor make-up air for the kitchen
We supply the hood with filtered and cooled outdoor air to replace what exits and keep the kitchen staff comfortable.
- 3
Grease and humidity protective filters
We fit extra filters at the evaporator and condenser inlets to shield the coils from kitchen grease buildup and coastal humidity.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Al Jawharah
- 1
Show us the hood location and outdoor discharge point
We need to see the hood location, discharge ducting and distance from your outdoor AC unit to calculate the balance.
- 2
Tell us your peak hours and daily operations
We ask about peak times, staff size and seating to design the balance around your actual demand.
- 3
Verify your electrical capacity for separate circuits
Confirm with the manager that your electrical panel can handle separate circuits for the hood and AC.
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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.
How do you balance the kitchen hood against cool air for guests?
We calculate the air volume the kitchen hood pulls and match it with equivalent cool air from your central system, while supplying the hood with separate outdoor make-up air to replace what leaves.
Evening café sessions cannot tolerate heavy door pressure, how do you solve that?
We install additional air returns in the seating area and tune the indoor-outdoor pressure to ease door resistance and smooth movement.
South Jeddah's humidity is high, does it combine with kitchen grease to clog the coils?
Yes, humidity and cooking vapours collect on the evaporator and condenser coils. We install extra protective filters and recommend cleaning the coils every two months.
Should the hood and AC have separate power circuits or can they share?
Separate circuits for each are best to prevent one outage affecting the other. We confirm your circuit capacity during design.
