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Hi,

I think that before ordering you should read some more :)

Connecting the Owl sensor to am emontx (I presume that was your intention) would require at least physical intervention on the plug of the owl to make it connect to an emontx input (3.5 mm jack) and then retrieving the datasheet to have the needed values to insert in the emontx sketch to correctly interpret measurements.

Then you still would need to send the collected data somewhere, and since you want it collected locally and possibly through an API a raspberry pi with and rfm12b and a local instance of emoncms should do the job. The difficulty involved in setting up an emontx/raspberry platform lies mainly in being able to solder and follow a guide to have a working emontx (so, basic electronics knowledge) and being able to manage a linux server (there's documentation and howtos, but you will still need to know the basics otherwise you'll be lost the first time your environment deviates from the standard)

Another option would be reuse your owl sensors and read this:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Wireless-Weather-Station-Web-Ser...

but then a lot more tinkering would be required in both arduino programming, and you would probably need a rspberry or some sort of server to collect and display the data ...

I think you need to assess the amount of tinkering you are willing to perform and the potential benefits, then start planning and then spend some real money and show us the results :)

Take care

My guess is the Owl sensor is nothing more than a current transformer, but it need not be: for example the Efergy c.t. has internal components that must be removed to make it work with the emonTx system. To know what your device does exactly and what its capabilities are, you'd need to set up a laboratory and test it. Unless you already have the equipment and instrumentation already, it's probably not worth the effort and expenditure.

I was not planning to interface with the OWL, it is a very good product but just too expensive.

But I have a question regarding logging it's data. The OWL (with it's Internet connection module also sends data as XML to any IP & PORT I specify.

I have PHP UDP server which collects the data and parse it, currently I use it for emails alerts.

Are there logging services on OpenEnergyMonitor I can use? And of course I can use database.

Regarding my plans, it was to use OWL sensor to interface with Arduino, as I have some sensors at home. but reading the answer regarding Efergy, I understand it will need some modifications, so I will skip and but regular CT for Arduino,

You should look at emoncms.org for logging. Presently, the service is free. You can sign up and send data in various JSON formats - these are listed in the input API help, so you'll need to modify/extend your PHP to send your data onwards in the appropriate format. It might help to look at the example sketches for the NanodeRF base to see how the format strings are assembled.

Also, look at Trystan's recent blog post about the experimental Emoncms powered by timestore.