A Venstar 1900 with either an Insteon comms module or a telephone interface could to this. The phone interface is not internet but the Insteon is when combined with an ISY-26 network controller. I have the Insteon system, 2 of the Venstar thermostats and the work very well. Also do humidity control with fan speed control along with dual fuel capability and full remote monitoring and setpoint adjustment.

You say you have trouble cooling your 2200 sq. ft. home with a 5 ton as it is. Start there. Have a competent company look at your ductwork and perform a Manual J load calculation to size the equipment properly. The issue may lie in a deficient ductwork system. Is this an attic system? I wouldn't put so much emphasis on the equipment but rather on finding a good contractor to address your needs. A 5-ton unit really should be able to cool your home unless it's all windows with no insulation (to put into perspective: I have 3.5 tons doing ~3500 sq. ft. just fine--including finished basement, so really around 2800 sq. ft. or so--in through the hot/humid MD/DC/VA summers; however, my home is from the 80s). You say the ductwork is in poor shape, so start here. You want an efficient system that has good ductwork that won't leak the conditioned air. The fact that one came up with a 4 ton and one came up with a 5 ton sends up a bit of a red flag. How was humidity control with the 5 ton? A sign of oversized equipment is less humidity removal and shorter cycles, which costs more money. I would recommend a variable-speed blower and a 13/14 SEER outdoor unit. We can go back and forth with what brand is the best, but from what I gather, you have other issues to tackle first.

"I almost bought it but I want something with more that 4 on/offs." I'm not sure if more than 4 programming time periods are offerred by any manufacturer. "I want to gradually bring up the temp in my home over a 4 hour period with having the AUX heat on my heat pump become engaged engaged" - This depends on several things: setback temp, outside temp, house construction, heat pump capacity. At 20 degrees outside air, aux heat will be needed to help the heat pump recover from setback. At 40 degrees outside air, no aux should be needed.

I saw that Shark Tank episode, and it's actually part of what put me off of the product. It was a couple of guys looking to make some money, who had no experience whatsoever in the HVAC industry. I have a lot of respect for Robert Herjavec, but again, he has no HVAC experience. I would not base my purchase of an HVAC related product on his investing decision. I have seen a great deal of issues in the field with the Nest thermostat. I tried tried one in my own home, but removed it after a few months. Again, it was not created by people who know HVAC. That showed in the product, and when you called them for support. It seemed to do a fine job of controlling basic systems that just had a gas furnace and A/C (though I noticed a lot of reliability issues, and it allowed excessive temperature swings in my opinion), but when I put it on more complicated systems, like multistage, heat pump, and dual fuel systems, it just choked and could not control them in an efficient and comfortable manner. Many people reported significantly increased electric bills. The fact that these smart vent people are partnering with them speaks volumes to me. Again - CNET is a great place to go for reviews on consumer electronics, but they know nothing about HVAC. Same deal with Lowe's and Samsung. Their ability to get funding from these places doesn't really answer any of my concerns about the product. I agree that the article I linked was mainly written with heating systems in mind, but a lot of it applies to cooling systems too. You don't just risk system damage by restricting airflow on a furnace. There is plenty of risk with an A/C only system as well. Low airflow can lead to coil freezeups, blower failure, and compressor failure. I don't understand what you mean about "relieving pressure" when using schedules. As long as vents are being closed off, static pressure in the ductwork increases. I'm glad these companies are at least acknowledging the pressure issue. But their websites have next to no specific information about what they are doing to get around the problem. I would want to know what type of sensor they are actually using to measure the pressure. Are they just measuring it at individual vents or are they taking into account readings from all the vents together? Also, what are they doing with the pressure readings they are getting from these sensors? At what point do they determine static pressure is excessive? That can be different for different systems. How do they specifically know what kind of pressure buildup for your particular duct system? That kind of thing requires a qualified technician to measure, and these systems are not designed to be put in by qualified technicians. Let's assume these systems can actually get accurate static pressure readings for the system, and somehow know when airflow is being restricted too much for a particular system (based on what I've read about these, I feel that both of these assumptions are a stretch). When pressure does get too high, what will the system be able to do about that? A traditional zoning system installed by a contractor could ramp down the variable speed blower, lowering pressure while still allowing zones to be closed off. A more basic zoning system installed on a non variable speed HVAC system could open a bypass damper installed by the contractor, allowing some the excess supply air to go straight to the return duct, again lowering static pressure while allowing zones to close. But these smart vents? The only thing they'll be able to do if they sense high pressure is to not close, which kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? That air has to go somewhere! The title of the article I linked is "Ecovent - Treating Symptoms Instead of the Disease". Based on what I know about these products I feel that is an accurate description of them. Even if they worked perfectly, without any potential for issues down the road, the problems they claim to be trying to solve should not be present at all in a properly sized, designed, and installed HVAC system. If temperatures are extremely uneven from room to room, that isn't just a fact of life that you have to deal with; it means that your duct system is poor. I have no zoning system whatsoever in my house, and my temperatures are almost perfectly even from room to room, even with just one thermostat. So, if you're having issues with comfort or energy consumption - get a good contractor to evaluate your entire system. You will be better off in the long run eliminating the root cause of these problems. All of this is just my personal opinion I've formed based on the information I've been able to find about these products online. If you decide you'd like to go ahead with one of these systems, post back with a review and let us know how it works for you.