The heat in your basement does actually have somewhere else to go. Typically, uninsulated basement walls and floor are near the temperature of the surrounding e

The heat in your basement does actually have somewhere else to go. Typically, uninsulated basement walls and floor are near the temperature of the surrounding earth, which ranges between 45-55 F depending on how far down you are on the wall and your latitude. Heat conduction between basement air and those cold surfaces is not negligible on the scale of home heating.