Restaurant & cafe HVAC
Restaurant & cafe HVAC in Al Salihiyah
In Al Salihiyah, east Jeddah, restaurants and cafés cluster in modern commercial buildings with enclosed kitchens and shared HVAC systems. We balance the hood exhaust with main air supply to keep guests clear of cooking smoke and heavy odours.
- 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 Salihiyah's commercial buildings are modern and multi-storey, hosting several small to medium restaurants and cafés on close floors sharing the same air pathways and drainage. This shared design makes pressure balance more complex because one restaurant's hood exhaust can affect floors above and neighbouring shops. Protecting shared coils from grease needs strong filters and regular maintenance to prevent blockages in the shared ducts.
Al Salihiyah is in east Jeddah, a zone of modern multi-storey commercial buildings hosting closely spaced restaurants and cafés.
Most Al Salihiyah restaurants sit in shared buildings with one central HVAC system serving several units, though each restaurant has its own hood.
The AC setup in Al Salihiyah
- 1
Shared central HVAC system
Al Salihiyah commercial buildings link several restaurants through one central system that distributes chilled air to all units.
- 2
Separate hood per restaurant
Each restaurant has its own hood, but make-up air and exhaust ducts may be partially shared in some buildings.
- 3
Heavy-duty grease filters and regular servicing
The shared duct system needs heavy-duty filters and regular scheduled cleaning to prevent blockages in the common return paths.
Before the visit
Before our visit in Al Salihiyah
- 1
Coordinate with building management for safe access
The shared system requires building management approval to access the plant rooms and roof spaces where the ducts and units sit.
- 2
Provide building plans and system diagrams
Understanding your ductwork routing and connections to other floors is crucial for diagnosing pressure and balance issues.
- 3
Clear the kitchen around the hood and ductwork
Inspecting ducts, coils and filters requires clear space around the hood and connections leading to the roof and building.
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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.
Restaurant smells spread into the hallways and upper floors, how do you solve that?
The issue is usually insufficient make-up air for the hood or poor isolation in the shared ducts. We trace the weak points and isolate the circuit or coordinate with building management to improve balance.
How do you balance HVAC when we have a strong hood and one shared cooling system?
We need to adjust return-air dampers and recalculate make-up air flow so the hood does not pull chilled air from other parts of the building.
The shared ducts clog with grease quickly, is there a permanent fix?
There is no permanent fix, but strong filters and cleaning every two to three months keeps flow steady. It depends on cooking volume.
Coordinating maintenance with building management is complicated, how do you handle that?
We agree on maintenance times that do not disrupt the restaurant or neighbouring shops, and send building management a report after each visit.
