The piping from the back of my stove will be going straight up the
chimney
to my hot water cylinder/radiators, so hopefully during a power cut the
laws
of physics will prevail and convection will carry the boiling water up
the
pipes to the much colder cylinder and radiators.

If it's a pumped system, you have to install a convection-only "escape
radiator" anyway, for safe escape of heat if the pump fails.

I'm having a radiator put in my loft, directly above the hot water cylinder,
which in turn is directly above the stove. Once I've converted my loft, I'll
get a second radiator connected up to the first.

But with a
powerful stove, convection won't be sufficient to disperse all the heat,
and you should also install a safety overflow for boiling water (ours
was a swan pipe onto the exterior roof). With a powerful stove, if the
pump's not working, convection alone won't disperse all the heat, and
the overflow will discharge.

Thanks for this - I'll consult my installer about this one!


In the event of prolonged power cuts, I would simply drain the system
and
disconnect the stove from the heating system.

Waaaaah! Is running a waterjacket stove with an empty waterjacket,
suggested as safely possible, in the manufacturers handbook?

I'm thinking it might blow up; you'd create a heat difference between
the inner and outer empty stove waterjacket that might fracture it.I
once had a cast iron stove firebox fall apart during full burn and
...you don't want that to happen. Really.

Hmmm yes I can see that! The waterjacket is actually an insert into the main
body of the stove, so even if it did fracture, it would only do so inside
the thick cast iron walls of the stove. As it's a Morso stove, I'm wondering
if this design is deliberate, for the very reason you suggest above!

If all else fails, I can simply take the waterjacket out of the stove, and
fill in the pipe holes in the back with fire cement, I suppose. But I think
that it might be OK with the back boiler inside it.

All good safety issues to be considered though - thanks!

Andy