Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Madinat Al Sultan
In Madinat Al Sultan, restaurants and cafés sit beside homes and shops, requiring ventilation that extracts odours and smoke sensitively without disturbing neighbouring residents. Alrabih designs solutions that balance guest and neighbour comfort.
- 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
Madinat Al Sultan is a mixed residential district with small shops, restaurants and flats in close proximity, where kitchens typically open into small dining areas surrounded by homes. When the kitchen hood runs hard it pulls air from the dining room and adjacent residences, causing uncontrolled escape of kitchen odours to the street or neighbouring flats. The ventilation system must extract powerfully enough to clean the restaurant but in a controlled way that does not disturb residents or pull air from neighbouring units.
Madinat Al Sultan in south Jeddah is a mixed residential district with small restaurants, flats and shops in close proximity.
Most restaurants here are small units with open kitchens on a limited dining area, with separate AC units and wall hoods venting directly outdoors.
The AC setup in Madinat Al Sultan
- 1
Wall hood with sound damping and controlled outdoor venting
Small restaurants here need a wall hood with low noise that vents air at a controlled angle away from neighbour windows.
- 2
Separate AC with distributed or concealed units
Limited outdoor space needs distributed unit placement or concealed internal units that reduce the external footprint.
- 3
Calibrated vents for balanced pressure between restaurant and outdoors
Pressure relief vents in exterior walls or doors prevent pull from adjacent flats and ensure safe balance.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Madinat Al Sultan
- 1
Locate neighbour windows and entries
Tell us the location of neighbour windows and entrances so we can direct the hood outlet and outdoor unit away from them.
- 2
Define available outdoor space
Confirm space on walls, roof or balcony for outdoor units without crossing shared property lines with neighbours.
- 3
Agree working and maintenance times with the restaurant owner
Agree installation and maintenance times that do not clash with the restaurant's hours or neighbours' sleep times.
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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.
Kitchen odours exit the hood straight out and bother neighbours, how do you fix this?
We angle the hood outlet or raise it above wall level so odours do not blow directly at neighbour windows, and site the outdoor inlet away from neighbouring entrances.
The hood pulls air from the adjacent flat when running hard, is that fair to neighbours?
No, that signals strong negative pressure. We install calibrated vents in the restaurant or adjust extraction power to be balanced, so there is no air draw from the neighbouring flat.
Outdoor space is tight and I cannot fit a large AC unit, how do you manage?
We design smaller distributed units on different walls, or use ceiling-mounted or internal concealed units with slim ducts to avoid crowding the tight boundary space with neighbours.
Can you soundproof the hood to keep neighbours and windows quiet?
Yes, we fit silencers in the hood duct and wrap the exhaust outlet with acoustic insulation to reduce noise that disturbs neighbours.
