Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Al Nakhil
In Al Nakhil, east Jeddah, restaurants and cafés serve a diverse population in a rapidly growing district, and air conditioning and ventilation must be robust and reliable. A balanced system protects guests from odours and noise whilst delivering efficient cooling even in extreme heat.
- 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.
Split AC installation
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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 Nakhil is a rapidly growing east district with restaurants and cafés spread across standalone shops and small malls, rather than large shopping complexes. Restaurants here serve diverse cuisines from grills to shawarma to rice dishes, each producing different heat and odours. The system must be flexible to keep pace with the neighbourhood's rapid expansion, with good balance between extracting smoke and odours and supplying cool clean air to guests.
Al Nakhil lies in east Jeddah, a modern rapidly expanding district with restaurants and cafés in standalone shops and small malls.
Most restaurants here are either independent shops with a split unit and separate hood, or sit in small malls with limited shared cooling.
The AC setup in Al Nakhil
- 1
Independent split system with separate hood for standalone shops
Standalone shops in Al Nakhil use a single split unit for cooling and a separate powerful hood to extract odours and smoke from the kitchen.
- 2
Limited shared HVAC in small malls
Small malls usually have a simple central cooling system, so we add a powerful hood for the restaurant and balance pressure with other shops.
- 3
Make-up air supply for larger restaurants
Larger Al Nakhil restaurants may need a chilled make-up air supply to offset losses from the powerful hood and ensure guest comfort.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Al Nakhil
- 1
Clarify the food type and kitchen layout
Tell us exactly what type of food the restaurant serves and what equipment it uses (grill, oven, cooktop), since each type needs different extraction power.
- 2
Confirm outdoor unit placement and hood outlet
Decide where the outdoor unit and hood outlet can be placed safely without disturbing residents or workers in neighbouring shops.
- 3
Understand future expansion plans
Tell us if the restaurant plans to expand or add new sections, so we design the system with flexibility for later modifications.
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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.
Restaurant types vary, how do you design a system for all of them?
We assess the food type, heat and odours each produces, and design the hood and ventilation strength for each restaurant's exact needs.
The neighbourhood grows quickly, can the system be expanded later?
Yes, we design systems with flexibility to add extra units or new outlets if the restaurant expands later.
Our independent restaurants are small, do you work with them?
Yes, we design and install efficient, high-performance air systems and hoods even for small and medium restaurants in Al Nakhil.
Summer is very hot, how do you ensure stable cooling all day?
We select high-capacity, high-efficiency cooling units, and schedule regular coil and filter cleaning to maintain performance in extreme heat.
