Ambiance Hipster 20?

[Smokey Da Bears]

Does anyone know anything about the Ambiance Hipster 20? I see it's a Hearthstone product. Just curious about real world field testing as a search here didn't pull many results. Thanks!

 

[begreen]

It's hard to keep up with this products ownership. It's gone from Napoleon, to Supreme, and now to Hearthstone. There's not a long track record. At heart, this stove appears to be a Hearthstone Green Mountain 60 variation. The EPA testing lumps it under the same group.

 

[Smokey Da Bears]

Thanks @begreen. This is also what I have been able to uncover. I've found the manual and various brochures. A few very short Youtube videos. I agree, looks like a Green Mountain 60 with the door handle on the opposite side. I'm looking at this stove today in consideration of replacing my current VC Defiant. While I'm pleased with my VC as a heater, I'm also hopeful for something less finicky and needy and less expensive on the replacement parts. There may be some savings with this stove as it's a dealer demo, dealer is a friend. Just entertaining the idea for now.

 

[begreen]

IMO, it's not the best design with the cat right under the flue exit. And users report that the Hearthstone versions tend to have a finicky air control. The firebox capacity and output will be less than the Defiant.

 

[Brenburns]

We got one a couple of years ago. It's a steep learning curve from the 30 year old stove we had. The first year we had it we smoked out the house and set off the fire alarms several times. It's finicky. It does so much better with well seasoned wood. Although I love the way it looks and the radiant it puts out, it just needs too much babysitting. I don't always feel safe leaving it going while we're out of the house like I did with the older stove. The new stoves don't give you the burn time that they advertise. It's less than 50% of that. Even full of wood, on these super cold nights , I have to get up at 3 or 4am to repack the stove. ( we have the hipster 20 in a 1400 sq ft home). I think we would have been happier with a blazer king tbh. If you want set and forget, this is not the stove for you. Also we had to replace the wooden handle. It's a poor design. The inside of the wood handle quickly wears out from metal rubbing on it. In fact I just noticed that the new handle is now loose.

 

[begreen]

Square footage heated and burn times are very subjective. Those numbers are going to depend on several external factors like outside temperature, size of area heated, house insulation, wood quality, etc. It's important to keep expectations realistic. One might get a 24 hr burn with a BK in 45º weather in a decently insulated house and then only get an 8 hr burn in 0º weather.

 

[EbS-P]

I’d rather have a TN20.

True North TN20 B Series Wood Burning Stove with Legs

If you are in the market for <a href="https://www.efireplacestore.com/wood-burning-stoves.html">a wood burning stove</a> then look no further than True North, a Paci

www.efireplacestore.com

 

[Smokey Da Bears]

I decided to make the swap from the VC Defiant to the Ambiance Hipster 20 last week. Old stove came out on Wednesday last week, new stove went in on Friday last week. Lit the Hipster on Friday and it's been running ever since. So far 8-10 hour burn cycles with no issues. First 4-6 hours I get good heat output before stove top falls. But almost always a bed of coals at 8 hours. But the external temps have risen recently above 30, so we'll see if/when it get's super cold again outside. I'm very pleased with this decision so far. The VC Defiant was definitely not set it and forget it. With the hipster I've left the house quite a few times already and have packed it before bed. I have no concern in comparison to what I'm coming from.

@Brenburns thanks for letting me know about the wooden handles. I could definitely see how the wood could wear out, especially on the door latch. I'm going to keep an eye and try to be ginger with it.