Bluetooth proxy configuration

Hi,

I’m running HA OS on an odriod N2+. HA version is 2022.10.5, Supervisor 2022.10.2, Operating System 9.3. Now I’m trying to add Bluetooth proxy support using ESPHome. The ESP device reports several devices including the eQ-3 Bluetooth Smart Thermostats I want to control. I configured the devices as

climate: 
- platform: eq3btsmart
  devices:
    bt-thermostat1:
      mac: "00:1A:22:0D:CB:57"
    bt-thermostat2:
      mac: "00:1A:22:0D:CB:76"
    bt-thermostat3:
      mac: "00:1A:22:13:B0:98"

The ESPHome device was added to HA automatically as expected, but the eQ3 devices are reported as unavailable. I do not see any log messages that HA is trying to connect to them using the proxy. I do not see any log messages related to Bluetooth at all. Is there some configuration detail I’ve missed?

Jörg