Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Al Shifa
In Al Shifa, south Jeddah, restaurants and cafes in new zones and showroom-malls need efficient AC with powerful kitchen hoods. Alrabih designs a system that isolates cooking vapours while keeping both guests and staff comfortable.
- 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 Shifa is a relatively new commercial growth zone with restaurants in modern shopping centres and recently built hotels. Restaurant spaces here are larger than older districts, with spacious dining halls and better-separated kitchen sections, but south Jeddah's coastal heat and humidity strain the AC coils and condenser. Powerful hoods and large guest numbers during peak hours demand precise air balancing and extra protection from grease and moisture buildup on the coils.
Al Shifa sits in south Jeddah, a modern commercial development zone with shopping centres, hotels and contemporary office buildings.
Major restaurants and hotels here run powerful central AC systems with industrial kitchen hoods, often needing chillers or multiple rooftop units.
The AC setup in Al Shifa
- 1
Central AC with chiller for large halls
Large Al Shifa restaurants need a separate chiller or multiple rooftop units to cool both expansive halls and substantial kitchens.
- 2
Industrial kitchen hood with multi-stage grease separator
Hoods here are powerful and advanced, with multi-stage grease filters to protect coils from grease and moisture accumulation.
- 3
Treated and chilled outdoor make-up air for kitchen
Large restaurants need filtered and chilled outdoor air supplied to the kitchen to replace extracted air and keep kitchen staff comfortable.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Al Shifa
- 1
Provide us with blueprints and planned kitchen equipment
Blueprints help us calculate heat and grease load and specify the right hood and AC size before we visit.
- 2
Specify hood location and outdoor discharge point
The outdoor discharge must be high and away from neighbouring windows. We choose the best location with you.
- 3
Verify electrical capacity for separate circuits
Large restaurants need strong, separate circuits for the hood and AC. Confirm this with the electrical contractor before work starts.
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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.
Our kitchen is large and the hood is powerful, do we need double ducting?
It depends on hood size and air velocity. We calculate both and specify the ducting diameter to prevent rapid clogging.
South Jeddah's humidity is very high, does it combine with kitchen grease to harm the coils?
Yes, humidity and grease accumulate together and promote algae and mould. We install advanced protective filters and recommend monthly coil cleaning for high-volume restaurants.
The restaurant is new and the engineering drawings did not specify the hood, how do you handle it?
We visit, measure the kitchen equipment and calculate heat and grease load, then propose an appropriate hood size and air balance before installation.
The hood and central AC share electrical circuits, is that a problem?
Yes, because the hood can draw heavily during busy cooking hours. We recommend a dedicated strong circuit for the hood and a separate one for the AC to avoid dropouts.
