I feel like this could be a nice high school physics test question. Realistically, I don't think HV lines have much energy loss, owing to the use of high voltage in the first place as a means of minimizing loss. Then there are considerations for air resistance in the tubes, an almost 100% effective insulator, and all those real world issues of gnarly general maintenance.
Almost all electricity run through computers are basically resistance losses at the end of the day, so data centers and crypto miners on the other hand...
Could not find the answer, kept getting general pages about how much current a wire can pass (without the result even containing the keyword I looked for, like temperature or heat or warm). To still have some indication of whether this is an interesting thing to keep looking into, ChatGPT says:
> Typically, high-voltage transmission lines are designed to operate at temperatures of around 75 to 100°C (167 to 212°F). However, under heavy loads, they can sometimes reach up to 150°C (302°F), but this is usually the upper limit for safe operation.
If that's a core temperature then the insulation might not make it significant, but if the outside leaks this much... I might not mind paying myself for a plastic tube and a fan to use around the line if I lived near one. Okay okay, it'll be more complicated than that, but still: free energy? And you're doing the power company a favor by decreasing the resistance in the case of most metals (https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/resistivity-conductivity-...) including copper which https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_cable says they're made of
It's entirely possible the wires would get hot enough to get useful heat, but I think the much more practical challenge is moving the air and insulating it from the outside.
Beyond that, you're likely also decreasing the maximal electrical current the wires can carry, as they won't be able to dissipate the heat as effectively with the additionally insulation.
Almost all electricity run through computers are basically resistance losses at the end of the day, so data centers and crypto miners on the other hand...