I agree with everyone here who is preaching the insert. A friend has a Quadrafire in his basement and still has a tough time heating his whole house with it. It will heat the first floor fine, but not the second. The basements walls were poured with ICFs and the rim joints are completely sealed with expanding foam (whole house was done that way) so the basement gets really hot but the heat just does not transfer upstairs. In contrast I have a medium-sized Pacific Energy insert on the first floor and have no problems heating my whole house.
Regarding your basement, if it is really cold down there, I suggest air sealing as much as possible. Concentrate on the rim joist area. If you want to get really serious, put up 2" foam board over the upper 4' of the walls. This should stabilize the basement temp at around 55F, which while not warm, is not frigid either.
Regarding your basement, if it is really cold down there, I suggest air sealing as much as possible. Concentrate on the rim joist area. If you want to get really serious, put up 2" foam board over the upper 4' of the walls. This should stabilize the basement temp at around 55F, which while not warm, is not frigid either.