Seamus,
Check out the Gossamer series of Hampton Bay fans. They are designed to be super energy efficient, which means that they have: 1) shaped blades like one finds in an aircraft propeller providing >40% more airflow at the same wattage 2) a remote control and a motion sensor that can be programmed to turn off the fan after a certain amount of time without activity in the room.
Bottom line: it's designed as a fan should have been designed in the first place. Check it out at the Florida Solar Energy Center (part of Florida State, I believe):
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Available only at Home Depot and, alas, not in sizes less than 52". Hence, I'm now looking at a StratoJet at
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and trying to figure out how to hook up a remote control to it...
Andre' A.