Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Al Fayhaa
In Al Fayhaa, central Jeddah, small restaurants and hotel kitchens sit in relatively older buildings with enclosed or semi-enclosed kitchen spaces. Alrabih balances hood extraction with clean make-up air, protects cooling coils from grease, and keeps guests comfortable away from cooking odours and noise.
- 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 Fayhaa is an older zone in central Jeddah, mixing residential buildings, small hotels, and space-constrained restaurants. Kitchens here are usually enclosed or semi-enclosed with heavy doors and narrow passages, so hoods work at high pressure to expel hot, humid air. The older buildings may not take major structural changes or complex new ducting, but the relatively high ceilings allow flexible runs. Grease and moisture cleaning of coils is essential because humid, vapour-laden air deposits quickly on cold coils.
Al Fayhaa sits in central Jeddah, a relatively older zone with mixed building stock, small hotels, and space-limited restaurants.
Small Al Fayhaa restaurants and hotel kitchens run simple split units with a strong central hood operating at high pressure because the space is enclosed.
The AC setup in Al Fayhaa
- 1
Simple split with high-pressure kitchen hood
Small Al Fayhaa restaurants rely on one or two split units paired with a powerful hood running at high pressure to expel humid kitchen air.
- 2
Make-up air from nearby window or external vent
Because of the building's age, we fit a make-up intake at a kitchen-adjacent window or external vent instead of complex ducting.
- 3
Extra moisture filter on make-up air
The make-up air passes through a moisture-removal filter before entering the kitchen, providing extra protection for the coils.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Al Fayhaa
- 1
Check hood and outlet access
Confirm the kitchen hood location and the external outlet on roof or wall are safely accessible without obstruction.
- 2
Identify nearest window or external vent for make-up intake
Tell us the nearest kitchen-adjacent window or external vent where we can draw the make-up air from.
- 3
Arrange timing with hotel or restaurant manager
Schedule during kitchen closure and confirm the manager understands the work may take a few hours.
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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 fully enclosed and the hood blasts hot air out fast, does that affect cooling?
Yes, high pressure pulls cool air from the dining room and hotel. We add regulated make-up air that feeds the kitchen with relatively cool outside air so it does not pull from guest areas.
Humidity in our kitchen is very high, do cooling coils fail quickly?
Hot humid air speeds up grease and mould on coils. We add supplementary ventilation and clean the coils every one to two months to protect them.
The building is old and space is tight, how do you add make-up air without major changes?
We use flexible compact units drawing air from a nearby window or directly outside with minimal structural disruption.
The passages between kitchen and dining are narrow, will installation be complicated?
Narrow passages need careful duct routing, but Al Fayhaa's older buildings usually allow flexible horizontal runs under the relatively high ceilings.
