Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Kinanah
In Kinanah, east Jeddah, restaurant and café HVAC requires careful balance between kitchen extraction and dining-room cooling. Alrabih designs a ventilation system that pulls cooking fumes away and pushes clean, cool air to diners without odours or disruptive draughts.
- 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
Kinanah is a relatively modern district mixing commercial and residential buildings, home to several restaurants and cafés that have been redeveloped in recent years. Most were built with modern kitchen spaces but their ventilation often needs rebalancing, especially where the dining room opens to the kitchen. Negative pressure in the kitchen when the extract runs hard pulls air from the dining area, spreading food smell and slamming doors, so we install a make-up air inlet matched to the extraction strength and shield the cooling coils from grease buildup.
Kinanah lies in east Jeddah and is a modern commercial growth area with contemporary restaurants and cafés alongside residential and retail buildings.
Most modern restaurants in Kinanah have open or semi-open kitchens, raising the need to balance cooking-fume extraction with customer cooling.
The AC setup in Kinanah
- 1
Island-hood extraction with paired make-up air inlet
Most modern Kinanah restaurants have open cook islands, so we fit strong extraction hoods above them and balance it with a conditioned make-up air inlet that compensates for the pull.
- 2
Cooling-coil protection against fats and oils
Oily kitchen fumes clog coils fast, so we fit heavy-duty grease filters before them and advise monthly cleaning.
- 3
Pressure balancing between kitchen and dining room
Open dining rooms adjoining kitchens need precise air-pressure design to prevent smell spread and door pull.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Kinanah
- 1
Tell us your kitchen and restaurant layout
Send us a simple sketch or photo showing where the stove, island, dining area and entrances are, so we design the system accurately.
- 2
Agree on outdoor-unit location and extraction ducting
Settle where on the roof or courtyard the outdoor unit will sit and where extraction ducting will run, ensuring no obstructions block the route.
- 3
Coordinate with the restaurant team on installation timing
Installation will take time, so agree with the owner on working hours that do not clash with service or operation.
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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 open to the dining room, how do you stop cooking smells spreading?
We design a system that pulls fumes directly from above the stove and pushes fresh cool air into the dining room at a studied ratio, so smells do not spread because the kitchen pressure stays balanced.
Do you protect the cooling coils from kitchen grease?
Yes, we install advanced grease filters before the cooling coils to trap fat particles, and we advise cleaning the filters monthly depending on kitchen use.
The kitchen gets very hot in summer, do cooling and extraction work against each other?
A conflict can arise if extraction and make-up are not properly tuned, but we design the system so both work together, pulling hot and humid air from the kitchen while pushing conditioned cool air efficiently.
Does the kitchen extract cause doors to slam violently in the restaurant?
Yes, strong extraction without balance creates negative pressure that pulls entrance doors hard. We install a make-up air system matching the extraction strength, so negative pressure drops and the nuisance stops.
