Restaurants, cafés and pubs with dining rooms have a cooling problem that changes hour by hour. The room is quiet at three in the afternoon and packed at eight, with hot plates arriving, candles lit and the sun on the front windows. Meanwhile the kitchen next door is the hottest room in the building.
This guide covers how restaurant air conditioning is sized and positioned, why the kitchen needs a different approach, and how to keep the system working through a busy season. Our client list includes McDonald’s, and the same basics apply whether you run a chain site or an independent bistro.
Sizing the dining room for a full house
A dining room has to be sized for its busiest service, not an average. The heat gains we add up at survey include:
- the number of covers at peak, plus staff on the floor;
- glazing, especially a south or west facing shopfront or a conservatory-style extension;
- lighting, coffee machines, hot cupboards and any open pass or theatre kitchen;
- how often the front door is opened, and whether the room connects directly to the kitchen.
It’s also worth thinking about winter. Most modern systems are heat pumps, so the same equipment can heat the dining room when it’s cold. If you want the system to do both, we size for both.
Choosing and placing the indoor units
For a small café a wall-mounted unit may be all you need. Larger dining rooms with a suspended ceiling usually suit cassettes, which spread air in several directions and keep units off the walls. For a design-led fit-out, ducted units leave only grilles on show.
Placement is where restaurants differ from offices. Diners notice a cold draught on the back of the neck straight away, so we avoid blowing air across tables and keep units away from where guests sit longest. We also avoid placing indoor units where they’ll pick up cooking fumes from an open kitchen, because grease on a coil or filter quickly cuts performance and causes smells.
The kitchen is a different job
A commercial kitchen’s first line of defence against heat is its extract and make-up air system, not air conditioning. HSE’s catering information sheet on ventilation of kitchens in catering establishments covers the ventilation duties for caterers and building managers. If the extract is undersized or the replacement air is poor, adding cooling won’t fix the kitchen.
Where cooling is added for staff, we keep units out of the cooking line, away from grease and steam, and pick positions where the filters can be cleaned often. Air should be directed so it doesn’t disturb the extract canopy’s capture. Our kitchen air conditioning page covers this in more detail.
Remember too that HSE says there is no maximum workplace temperature in law, but employers must provide a reasonable temperature and manage heat as a hazard. Its page on managing workplace temperatures lists air conditioning alongside ventilation, shading and breaks.
Want it done properly? AirCon Doctor installs, repairs and services air conditioning and heat pumps across London and the South East, from our base in East Grinstead. We’re an F-Gas certified company and NICEIC approved. Get a fixed-price quote.
Noise, outdoor units and neighbours
Restaurants are often in terraces with flats above. Outdoor units may need to go on a rear flat roof, in a yard or on brackets, and their noise at night matters to the people upstairs. We compare the manufacturer’s sound data, pick positions that keep units away from bedroom windows, and talk to you about planning: cooling plant on commercial premises is a matter for the local council, and on a leased unit the landlord’s consent is usually needed too.
Condensate in food premises
Every indoor unit produces condensate. In a restaurant it must go somewhere suitable, never left to drip into food areas. We use gravity drains where there’s a fall and condensate pumps where there isn’t, and we put pumps where they can be reached for cleaning without moving kitchen equipment.
Planning the installation and keeping it running
Most restaurants don’t want engineers in the dining room during service. At survey we agree when we can work and phase the job so you can keep trading. After installation, the system is commissioned, the F-Gas records are completed and you get a handover on the controls.
Filters in a dining room near an open kitchen load up fast. Plan servicing at least once a year, and more often if you cook in view of the room. Larger systems may need legal leak checks: at least every 12 months for systems holding 5 to less than 50 tCO2e, as GOV.UK explains in its leak checking guidance. A maintenance contract keeps that on schedule.
What it costs
A single wall-mounted split for a small café falls in our standard range of £1,200 to £2,200 + VAT. Cassette, ducted and multi-unit systems for larger restaurants are priced after a survey with a fixed-price quote. Businesses pay the standard rate of VAT. See our restaurant air conditioning page for more.
Quick answers
Can air conditioning cool a commercial kitchen?
It can help staff comfort, but the kitchen’s extract and replacement air system does the main work. Cooling units must be kept away from grease and steam, and their filters cleaned often.
Which units are best for a restaurant dining room?
Cassettes suit most dining rooms with a suspended ceiling. Wall-mounted units work in smaller rooms, and ducted units suit design-led fit-outs. Placement to avoid draughts across tables matters more than the type.
Do I need planning permission for a restaurant air conditioning unit?
Possibly. Outdoor plant on commercial premises is a matter for your local council, and a leased unit usually needs the landlord’s consent. We flag this at survey.
Related services
- Restaurant air conditioning
- Kitchen air conditioning
- Commercial air conditioning
- Cassette air conditioning
More advice
- Air Conditioning for Hotels: A Property Manager’s Guide
- Air Conditioning for Retail: Shop and Showroom Guide
- Air Conditioning Maintenance Contract: What It Includes and Is It Worth It?
- Air Conditioning Noise: How Quiet Are Modern Systems?
- All advice
This guide is general information, checked against the sources linked on 30 October 2026. It isn’t legal, tax or financial advice. Rules, grants and product ranges change, so check the current position before you rely on it.