Recycling dryer heat

[DrewKaree]

The only money you're going to save by finishing your basement, as Eric pointed out, is the amount of money you MIGHT have spent if you were trying to heat it.  Heat rises.  That means it might feel like your floors were colder, but you wouldn't turn up the heat just to heat your floors, and it's not going to make that much of a difference if your basement isn't finished.  If you had just a crawlspace and didn't finish or close it off, that might make a bigger difference.

Finishing off your basement simply turns that area into liveable space.  Insulating it saves you money in that you won't have the heat turned up higher to heat that area.  Insulate enough, and that can be the warmest spot in the house.  My brother-in-law's house - that's the case.  His basement is easily 5 degrees warmer than the upstairs due to all the insulation and his basement retaining so much more heat than the upstairs.