California may be famous for its on-screen action, but soon consumers may have to start minimizing the size of the screens they’re bringing into their own homes—unless manufacturers figure out ways to make the super-sized TV sets more efficient.

It’s all part of a new law unanimously voted in by members of the California Energy Commission, and it’s been put in place to tackle the troubling—and increasing—energy drain that comes from the now common monster televisions that most Americans own at least one of. In fact, the Commission has said that TVs now account for 10% of the energy bills in California, and without attention they feel the number could continue to skyrocket as consumers look for larger and larger television sets and purchase additional televisions for multiple rooms in the home.

The new law, which won’t take affect until 2011, requires that all televisions (up to 58 inches) use about 33% less energy, with the number increasing to 50% in 2013. Television sets over 58″ are considered exempt because of their use primarily in specialty home theaters, which are usually provided by small businesses that the Commission wanted to avoid affecting. As it currently stands, California consumers can purchase more energy efficient TVs by looking for the Energy Star label, which has been increasing its standards for efficiency in televisions for the past few years.

Although some consumers and a few organizations (like the Vermont-based Consumer Electronics Association) have been resistant to the change and referred to it as a “ban”, major corporations like Wal-Mart and Vizio have already gotten on board and are promising to promote energy-efficient TVs and develop more energy efficient sets, respectively. And with estimated energy bill savings of over $8 billion thanks to the new law, it’s been harder for skeptics to argue against more energy efficient models (and really, shouldn’t television manufacturers be working to make things both bigger and better, instead of just bigger?).

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