Frequently Asked Quastions
Over time this page will be updated with questions from Garage door Manufactures/Installers, Shed/Barn Manufactures/Installers, homeowners and others
email us your questions and thoughts
Q & A
What is The Zula System and what is it used for?
The Zula System was developed to create a powerful air ventilation and air quality improvement to any remote building like sheds, Barns, chicken coop and fit Garage doors since it is a moving door.
Sheds and Garages can have standing air that could lead to Mold and in-Building allergens.
The Zula system is a mechanical air ventilation system using powerful fans to create air circulation by using 2 fans to blow air into the room (Shed or Garage) and 1 fan blowing air out side. The power source used is a solar panel so there are no issues with running wires, permits or monthly utility bills.
The current system provides 630CFM (Cubic feet per minute) meaning the air flow is powerful enough to reach every corner of the room and pick up any standing particles.
How did you come up with the idea?
I write about it in my Blog on my website. The Zula system came up as part of working in the garage and talking with friends about, “wouldn’t it be nice to have … “ kind of talks. After about 1 year, I spent more time in my garage when the door was closed and noticed the windows in the top row of the garage door and figured that would be a great place to get some air in. since its high enough from water to get in, small enough for thieves to get in and if I can fill in the space, no other insects will be able to come in, especially snakes, I do not get a long with Snakes.
Using my local hardware store, I started building model units from wood, buying fans and calculating power usages for the fan and mounting options. Long story short, I used local manufacturing companies in my area and built The Zula solution with the help of local garage door service companies and Shed builders to better understand the need.
I wrote a blog on my website www.mobenosolarsolutions.com make sure to check it out
Why not use the roofing vent or gable vent in a shed?
in order to get air ventilation there are few options to get the air to move, Passive or Mechanical. Passive means it is waiting for a windy day to move the air and Mechanical means it is a motorized solution, to operate a fan, blower or other type of wind flow
The Roofing or gable vents are a passive solution, just like opening windows at the house across from each other, you will need to have a windy day and hopefully create that air flow.
With a Mechanical solution, you are forcing the air to flow and keep moving. Just like in a river, it is not recommended to touch or drink the standing water, you want to be in the river flowing water since they can’t build any bacteria in the water.
What about bird nest or other insects getting into the Shed or Garage?
The Zula System is constructed with an ABS plastic that seals the fans and in the front it is covered by the solar panel. The solar panel has a 2-3 inch opening at the bottom to allow for the air to move in and out. The Solar panel activates the fans as long as there is day light, not only a direct sun, but indirect day light can also provide enough solar power to activate the fans. The fan blades are very small in order to be powerful enough to move the air and are about an inch and a quarter (1.25”) long. the Zula system has the ability to have an air filter on the back or the front to create another layer of filtered air flow as well as protection from other insects going in between the blades.
The unit is mounted at the top of the shed or top panel of the garage door, meaning that a bird should be smaller than an inch and a quarter (1.25”) to go in or build a nest in a daily moving fan
Also, when you are traveling or away from the shed or Garage, the system still ventilate the room.
What temperature difference should I expect with the Zula system?
The Zula System uses a fan system to cool the room just like room fans, it is not an air condition. From testing we did in a 2 car garage facing the same direction, same size and location, we found an interesting behavior of the temperature fluctuation.
The overall temperature was lowered by 10-15 degrees inside the garage with the Zula system from the outside temperature. When we look at the graph of temperature raising between garages, we see the garage with out the Zula system reaches high temperature very fast between 8am to 10am. The Garage with the Zula System climbed in temperature in much slower paste and taken about 6-8 hours to reach 80 degrees in August, compared to the garage without the Zula system installed.
Do I need an HOA approval?
if you leave in an HOA community, it is the same as any architectural committee process you do for changing the front door, Garage door , windows or other architectural committee requirements you have set from your HOA. Given the Zula solution doesn’t change the look of the garage door, I do not think you need it. If you have windows in your garage door today, you will see that looking at it from the street look just like a black panel glass, so it doesn’t change the look of it. If you a decorative insert in the window, it is easily removed from the window since it is only a décor item mounted in the window frame.Given the growth of green energy, each state in the USA are limiting HOA’s to deny Solar panel on home roof, The Zula system uses a very small foot print of solar panel to effect HOA’s or the look of the house or Shed.
what is the future of the Zula system?
What are other Air ventilation solutions are available for the Garage or Shed?
There are many options to consider in ventilating a garage or Shed but you need to evaluate the power source first for any mechanical solution. Unless you counting on keeping the windows open year round. Here are some of the options I came across, I also listed them in my website blog
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Open a window or the Garage door - remember my answer about insects, thieves and what to do when you away??
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Ceiling fan or Floor Fan – the air may be circulating, but it is kept within the room, there is no air replacement to bring new air in and get the old air outside
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Install an Air Condition – remember costs, permits, running cables and power lines as well as making sure the room has to be fully insulated to preserve utility bills and keep the room temperature
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Exhaust fans – similar to an air conditioning, it does pull the air out of the room , but brings in new air only when the garage door is opened or shed windows and doors are open wide to create the air circulation.
As an innovative company we listen to customers, users and professionals in the industry to share their experience so can continue to improve the system, ease of installation and adding more and more features. The Zula system is intended to be a smart solution and we are currently working on testing current users, so we ask for user experience, how do they use the Shed or Garage today and what do they like the most about the solution as well as hearing the thoughts and ideas for improvement. There are many ways to integrate the Zula solution into a new garage door or a new shed already built in from manufacturing, we are open to any integration work to make the solution unique option to homeowners.
Meet the Zula
During COVID we realized that regardless to the size of your home, we could always use more space to do our thing... Hobbies, workshop, fix/improve our toys (small or big), get together with friends or just chilling
Zula means chilling/ relaxing
The garage space is another key room in our home even if we use it for parking or storage, it is one of the main entry way to the home and when we are not using it, its circulating the air!
The Shed is growing to be that other room, not only for our tools storage, but also a place to hangout and when we are not using it, its circulating the air!
At MOBENO, we want to change the way we look at garage spaces, we want to make sure the garage is also utilized as an important room in the house from protecting our belongings to ensure its another clean and healthy room to use
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Part of any new innovative solution, I am trying very hard to work with subject matter experts, home owners, installers, manufactures and other experienced individuals to learn and improve air quality in the garage or shed. I would love to hear back your feedback, thoughts, suggestions