Bosch 5800i AW: Internet Gateway needed with EMS-ESP32?

[t-w3nz]

Hello everyone,

I will soon be getting a Bosch Compress 5800i AW air-to-water heat pump. I’m trying to decide whether it makes sense to also purchase the Bosch Internet Gateway Internet Key K 40 RF for around €270, or whether EMS-ESP32 is already sufficient for my needs. In every case I will install EMS-ESP32.

What additional functionality do I actually get with the official Bosch HomeCom / Bosch app compared to EMS-ESP32?

In particular, I’m thinking about things like remote access for the installer / service technician, official diagnostics, cloud-based features, software updates and any other functions that are not available via local EMS bus integration.

From what I understand, EMS-ESP32 already provides extensive local control and monitoring via the EMS bus and can integrate well with Home Assistant, MQTT, etc. So I’m wondering what I would realistically be missing without the official Bosch gateway.

Is the Internet Gateway worth it in practice, or is EMS-ESP32 enough for most use cases? How did you decide in your setups?

Thanks in advance for any insights!