Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Sulaitah
Sulaitah in north-east Jeddah hosts many small to medium restaurants and cafés in mixed residential buildings. Alrabih balances air pressure between the kitchen and dining room, supplies fresh make-up air to the hood, and keeps guests away from cooking fumes.
- 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
Most restaurants and cafés in Sulaitah operate inside older residential buildings where shops sit below or beside flats, and kitchen spaces are tight and adjoin the dining halls. When the kitchen hood runs at full speed, it draws air from the dining room and floods guests with cooking odours and grease vapour, while kitchen heat bleeds into the small dining space. Pressure balancing and supplying clean make-up air to the hood fixes these issues directly.
Sulaitah lies in north-east Jeddah, an older residential district with busy commercial activity and many restaurants.
Most restaurants and cafés here occupy buildings without separate central ducting, relying instead on multiple-outdoor-unit splits.
The AC setup in Sulaitah
- 1
Separate air ducts from the kitchen
We install thermally and acoustically insulated ducts from the kitchen to the building's outer wall, stopping heat and noise reaching the dining room.
- 2
Separate split units for kitchen and dining room
The kitchen needs its own powerful cooling separate from the guest area, so we install a dedicated split unit sized for its higher cooling demand.
- 3
Air pressure balancing valve
We install a balancing valve between kitchen and dining that maintains pressure equilibrium, preventing air being pulled from the hall and odours escaping.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Sulaitah
- 1
Confirm the external duct outlet location
Agree with us on the duct outlet location on the building's outer wall so it does not affect neighbours or the street, and is clear of windows.
- 2
Clear space in the kitchen for installation
Make sure the kitchen is clear of clutter and heavy equipment around the spaces where we will fit the ducts and units.
- 3
Schedule the installation with the owner
Agree with us on an installation time when the kitchen can be closed or off service, since the work will take time and generate noise and dust.
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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.
The small kitchen's heat raises the dining room temperature, what is the solution?
We supply cool make-up air directly to the kitchen hood; instead of pulling from the dining room, it draws treated outdoor air, cutting heat loss from the hall so guests stay comfortable.
The kitchen is in the front flat and the dining room beside it, can we separate the airflow?
Yes, we install pressure barriers and insulated ducts that route kitchen air directly out of the building, keeping it out of the dining room.
Kitchen humidity collects on the AC coil, how do you handle it?
We fit a larger, separate drain pan with an isolated siphon, and route humid kitchen air away from the coil before it reaches the cooling unit.
The kitchen hood is heavily greased, is its cleaning part of the HVAC service?
Hood and duct cleaning from grease is a separate job, but we make sure the ducts and equipment we install are protected by strong grease filters to prevent clogging.
