Over recent days, the heat wave has shown no signs of subsiding a little in Da Nang as its mercury remains as high as 36 - 38 degree Celsius, even higher in some of its parts. Still worse, the real-feel temperature is even higher during the daytime. Local residents are seen struggling to relieve its undesirable effects to ensure their health whilst businesses are making many appropriate adjustments in their operations in a bid to keep production on stream in face of the harsh weather.

Regardless of the intense and prolonged heat, bustling working ambiance has till observed at the construction sites of major local projects. Workers are seen carrying on work for the building of a street and a bridge spanning the Co Co River

Adjusting working time at the construction site

Regardless of the intense and prolonged heat, bustling working ambiance has till been observed at the construction sites of such major local projects as a traffic project at the western end of the Tran Thi Ly Bridge, the building of a street and a bridge spanning the Co Co River, Da Nang Software Park western ring road No. 2, the upgrading of DT 601 route. Here, workers have strived to race against time to keep the construction progress on schedule, despite the hardship triggered by the harsh weather.

Mr. Mac Van Tam, Deputy Director of the Xuan Quang Construction Joint Stock Company, the contractor for the building of the road and bridge spanning the Co Co River, said: “To ensure work efficiency in the hot weather, we have adjusted working time at the construction site in a reasonable way so as to ensure workers’ health in tandem with keeping construction on track. Simply put, workers are allowed to embark upon work at 5:00am, and 2:30pm respectively".

Mr. Phan Tan Hai, a construction worker for a traffic project at the western end of the Tran Thi Ly Bridge, said he and others haves till work hard to complete the workload as much as possible during scorching days, even at the point when the mercury hit 40 degree Celsius.

To avoid exposure to the burning sunshine, many workers are covered almost entirely from head to toe in combinations of facemasks, long gloves, wide-brimmed hats and long-sleeved shirts.

Efficient electricity use needed

The prolonged blistering heat normally leads to an abrupt upsurge of electricity consumption demand as families often use electrical equipment for cooling.

According to a recent report from Da Nang Power Company Limited (PC Da Nang), electricity consumption capacity on the grid recorded a high of 245,267 kWh in the city in May, an increase of 17.9% compared to the same period last year. Since the beginning of May, the growth of electricity load in the city has started reaching a high level.

PC Da Nang recommends that agencies, offices, businesses and households continue to use electricity in the most economical and efficient manner, while contributing to minimising the risk of local overload of the power grid and limiting a dramatic rise in the electricity bill.

Amid prolonged heatwave, the operation of such cooling equipment as air conditioners, electric fans and refrigerators can account for 60 - 70% of the total amount of electricity consumed.

Besides, the high outdoor temperature also forces the cooling equipment to operate with a greater capacity and continuous intensity, which results in higher power consumption, an unexpectedly sudden increase of the electricity bill and potential risks of short-circuit and overload hazards of the power grid.

“Da Nang PC, therefore, recommends that customers closely monitor the daily electricity index at https://pcdn.cpc.vn/tracuu to have a reasonable electricity use plan”, said Deputy Director of Da Nang PC Tran Nguyen Bao An.

In particular, when using air conditioners, temperature should be set in the optimal mode, at 26 degree Celsius and above. Also, it is recommended to increase the use of fans to circulate air, instead of air conditioners for the sake of health.

Amid the hot weather, the city has seen a growing demand for installation, repair and maintenance of air conditioners.

At some stores, the price of air conditioning maintenance is priced at VND150,000 - VND170,000/machine.

The price of gas filling and pulling vacuum for air conditioners when the gas tank is completely exhausted is set at VND400,000 – VND 1 million, and even higher, depending on their horsepower capacity.

Reporting by THANH LAN, KHANH HOA, QUYNH TRANG- Translating by A.T