Ok, Here goes....

I have a wood stove as a primary source of heat( affordable heat, that
is) and it is in our basement (Single story home with finished
daylight basement). The only route the warm air can take to get
upstairs is, the stairway. Aside from opening windows, there is no
way for the cooler air ustairs to move and so it seems that the warm
air in the basement is fighting to get by the cooler air upstairs, and
the cooler air is just resting on the warmer air below. An inversion
of sorts. (i'm waiting for a tornado to form in my stairway)

Would putting a cold air return in a corner or two of the home solve
this issue? If so, how many might i need? And am I correct in
assuming that a cold air return has to go from the floor upstairs(like
a vent in the floor)to the floor downstairs(ducted to a vent near the
floor)? Will this get the air moving?

Am I crazy?

Hayduke