With our finished basement there is a bit of a chill. Unfortunately we have
forced air gas heat and it just doesn't do the job of warming the basement
without baking the rest of the house, even when we do try to balance the
vent outputs.

We'd like the look of a fireplace and have decided to go with an electric
unit. Unfortunately we're not up on what to look for. I know that the lower
the wattage and higher the BTW, the more efficient the unit is, but what
else do I look for?