I don’t think that a small HEPA filter is necessarily more expensive to produce than a larger MERV filter. I think they are using other rationale to make their decision about filter types.
Their perception of public desirability/marketability is likely the biggest factor in their decision here. Components of their expectation here likely include:
Expecting consumers to want a “highest possible quality” product, measured using a dumb-but-popular metric.
Expecting consumers to prioritize buying a sleek-looking smaller-footprint unit over a larger unit. Also, cost of shipping smaller units is lower, which improves the profit margin.
Wanting to be able to sell replacements for their uniquely designed filter shape/size, rather than making their filter maximally compatible with commonly available furnace filters cheaply purchaseable from hardware stores.
I don’t think that a small HEPA filter is necessarily more expensive to produce than a larger MERV filter. I think they are using other rationale to make their decision about filter types. Their perception of public desirability/marketability is likely the biggest factor in their decision here. Components of their expectation here likely include:
Expecting consumers to want a “highest possible quality” product, measured using a dumb-but-popular metric.
Expecting consumers to prioritize buying a sleek-looking smaller-footprint unit over a larger unit. Also, cost of shipping smaller units is lower, which improves the profit margin.
Wanting to be able to sell replacements for their uniquely designed filter shape/size, rather than making their filter maximally compatible with commonly available furnace filters cheaply purchaseable from hardware stores.