The smoke from Phyllis Hunter’s indoor fireplace once made her sick every winter, and her family’s monthly gas bills were costing hundreds of dollars.

But then the Alden resident made a change. In late 2006, the Hunters spent about $19,000 on an outdoor wood boiler — a furnace housed in a shed-like structure. Now, Hunter said she can turn the temperature up in her home to 72 degrees, and “it doesn’t cost a penny more.”

“That’s kind of why we decided to invest the last of our home savings and go out and get a home equity [loan] to pay for this,” Hunter said.

But everything changed when the state Department of Environmental Conservation proposed regulations for outdoor wood boilers that would phase out all but a few new models by Aug. 31, 2020. Hunter, whose boiler does not make the cut, worries about what method of heating she and her husband will be able to afford.

DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino said the proposal aims to “dramatically” cut pollution from the outdoor boilers and improve air quality. “Our agencies and other agencies get a lot of calls complaining about these,” she said.

A list of the permitted wood boilers is available at

www.epa.gov/

burnwise/owhhlist. html, Severino said. It is an effort that she said was never meant to hurt manufacturers’ business or get rid of wood boilers. “That’s something our staff really wants to clarify,” she said. “Manufacturers were aware that this was something that was in development since early 2007, so they’ve been phasing those older versions out.”

Among the allies for state residents like Hunter is the New York Farm Bureau, which has more than 30,000 members statewide, many of whom have outdoor wood boilers, according to bureau spokesman Peter Gregg.

Gregg said the bureau was aware the DEC has been talking about the regulations for a year. He said attempts were made to stop them. “It’s ridiculous,” he said. “To us, it feels like the DEC is picking on us because we’re small in number and in rural New York. But we’re going to fight these proposed regulations and make as strong a case as we can.”

The DEC’s proposed regulations seek to further limit emissions from the boilers require a minimum distance between boilers and nearby properties and imposes fuel restrictions and higher smokestack requirements.

Hunter said her nearest neighbor is about 300 feet away and is located downhill from her house, putting her house’s ground level at her neighbor’s roofline.

“To the back side of our property is a creek and a farm,” she said. “There’s nobody really around me that my smoke really ever affects.”

The regulations can be read in detail at

www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/64459.html

. Residents are also encouraged to send written comment through 5 p. m. Friday to the DEC’s Division of Air Resources at 625 Broadway, 2nd floor, Albany, NY 12233-3251, or by e-mail to 2 4 7 o w b @ g w . d e c . s t a t e . ny. us