Heat pumps are cheaper thanks to Biden. Buy one now in case Trump kills the incentives

If you want to switch to a heat pump or induction stove, this might be a good time to do it.

Donald Trump has said that he wants to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark climate law that includes (among other things) tax credits and rebates for consumers to buy clean, efficient home appliances.

The tax credits, which cover up to 30% off the cost of installing qualifying products, are available nationally now. The rebates, designed for low- and moderate-income consumers, are just beginning to roll out in some states, and can add up to $14,000 to cover the cost of clean upgrades.

Nine states, plus Washington, D.C., now have early-stage home energy rebate programs: Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. Another seven states—including swing states like North Carolina and Georgia—have had their applications for funding approved by the Department of Energy. Nine others have submitted applications.

The DOE could theoretically fast-track the pending applications. (The DOE did not respond by the time of publication.) So far, it’s taken states around 90 days to get approval. After a state program is approved, it’s less likely that Trump can do anything about it. “Once the contracts are in place, once things are approved and the federal government gets the money out the door, it’s a huge challenge to try to pull that money back,” says David Friedman, director of federal policy at the nonprofit Rewiring America.

Every other state, with the exception of South Dakota, is in the process of applying for the funding. That also makes it less likely that the program will be nixed, Friedman argues.

“A new administration would basically have to turn around to all of those states and say, ‘Sorry, we’re not going to help—we’re not going to help about $9 billion go into your residents’ pockets,’” he says. “And we’re going to say to all the companies that are planning on standing up new jobs, new manufacturing facilities to make these appliances, that they may have to pause or even shut down their construction plans. I think it’s a really hard sell. I know there’s been a lot of rhetoric about it, but once you’re governing, you’re going to have to move from rhetoric to reality.”

Florida, which initially said it wouldn’t take the money, is now working on an application for the program. “They did the math, and the math is pretty clear,” Friedman says. The rebates aren’t just designed to clean up pollution, but to help combat inflation by cutting the cost of utility bills for consumers.

To change the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress would need to vote to repeal part (or all) of the law. (Republicans took control of the Senate in this week’s election; a handful of competitive House races are still undecided, which will determine whether Congress would even have the votes to repeal the law. The full law could be repealed through a simple majority vote, since it was passed under a budget resolution.)

Members of Congress may be unlikely to want to get rid of the money for their own residents—especially in battleground states where representatives will be up for reelection in a couple of years. Eighteen Republicans also recently wrote a letter in support of another part of the IRA that gives tax breaks to new clean energy factories. It’s possible that both the rebates and tax credits for consumers could also be safe.

Still, it’s hard to predict what may happen now. One recent analysis from Columbia Law School says the new administration could theoretically just withhold funding from states, because states wouldn’t be able to sue until years later. (Even the states that have already received funding are getting it in installments rather than in a lump sum.)

If you’re ready to replace a furnace or hot water heater, it probably makes sense to do it as soon as you can. It’s one of the concrete actions that you can take that actually make a real difference for the climate. And it can help save you hundreds of dollars each month. Rewiring America has calculated that low- and moderate-income households could collectively save $17 billion each year by electrifying their furnaces and water heaters.

As Friedman says, “I would move forward on this sooner rather than later, because I want more money in my pocket, and I think that’s going to be a pretty common theme for a lot of people across the country.”