Hill, welcome to the forums. You've come to the right place. You'll find a ton of great, free advice and experience here. Just as Dennis (Backwoods Savage) has suggested, plan your basement install with the knowledge that uninsulated walls will absorb your BTUs and leave you very frustrated with any stove's performance. Please take a moment to read about just how many BTUs you can lose here:
http://www.woodstove.com/pages/basement_install.html
Englander and Summer's Heat are the same stove. Both are made by Englander Stove Works, and they are both heating machines. Beauty is subjective, and Englanders may not be the "prettiest" stove on the market. However, in a "bang for buck" scenario, you will be hard pressed to find a better plate steel stove. If you have Englander questions, one of the forum members works for Englander, and he can tell you about these stoves inside and out. Either of those stoves, installed properly and burned with seasoned wood, will throw a lot a heat for you.
And, finally, as Dennis also suggested, make sure you have an adequately seasoned fuel supply. Please look through some of the Q&A;on Tom's site here:
http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/howetwd2.htm Perhaps this quote sums it up best: "Freshly cut wood is referred to as green, and is very wet, containing up to 80% moisture by weight. To dry out the wood to 20-25% moisture content so it can be used as fuel, you season it by cutting it up into short lengths and stacking it out of the rain in such a way that air can circulate freely to carry away the water as it evaporates out both ends of each piece. Remember Granddad's wood shed? The open slat walls allowed air to circulate, and the overhanging roof kept the rain off the wood. The seasoning process generally takes around 12 months, depending upon the species of wood and the airflow, humidity and temperature of the woodshed. Once the wood has evaporated down to 20-25% moisture content level, it is seasoned, and ready to burn."
Let us know if you have more questions!