Those stories are really sad.
FWIW, I recently bought a small Coleman buddy catalytic propane heater, followed the venting directions, fired it up and the SMB's CO detector was screaming within a few minutes (our PH top was down). I returned it and bought 4 coleman -5 deg sleeping bags on the costco website. Zipped them together to form 2 queen size tops and bottoms. We tested the setup at Mojave last weekend in 20 deg nighttime temps and it was actually too hot in the PH. I like the Espar (and there is absolutely no doubt they or propane furnaces are safe) but $3k is a bit steep for us.
Anyway, I would probably have continued to use the buddy heater per the venting directions if it were just me but I am responsible for my family. This story really makes me cringe. So sorry to see it happened.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.as ... 01&topnav=