'Woke up to this in the middle of the night': North Carolina woman stunned to find thermostat stuck near 80

A North Carolina woman's middle-of-the-night wake-up call is striking a nerve online. It turns out that she's far from the only one dealing with a faltering device at the worst possible time.

What happened?

In a TikTok filmed in Raleigh, creator Katie Campion (@ktcampion_) showed what appeared to be an indoor thermostat reading 79 degrees despite being set at a comfy 68 degrees.

@ktcampion_ woke up to this in the middle of the night and i DO NOT think this is what glass animals meant when they wrote "late nights in the middle of june… heat waves been faking me out." #heatadvisory #northcarolina #raleighnc #heatwaves #summerheat ♬ original sound - Universal Pictures

To add some spice to the video, she added appropriate audio to reflect the horror. She dubbed in a clip from the 2026 movie "Obsession":

In eerie fashion, the audio goes: "No, no, no. What? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that. I thought we were having a nice date."

She tied the moment to a heat advisory in the caption and added a reference to Glass Animals.

"Woke up to this in the middle of the night and i DO NOT think this is what glass animals meant ... 'late nights in the middle of june… heat waves been faking me out," Campion wrote.

Why does it matter?

A house hovering around the 80s is more than an inconvenience. High indoor temperatures can quickly become dangerous, especially for older adults, young children, people with chronic health conditions, and anyone without easy access to repairs or alternative cooling.

Even one night of poor sleep during extreme heat can affect health, work, and daily life. As North Carolina deals with a lengthy drought and high heat, these sorts of situations are becoming increasingly common.

The more extreme conditions are putting more strain on homes, infrastructure, and utility systems. While a hot home and tough night of sleep might not always seem like the biggest deal, the cumulative effects can have long-lasting consequences.

What are people saying?

Many commenters said Campion's experience mirrored their own.

One person shared: "Same. In NC too. It's set to 68 and got up to 81 in my house yesterday."

"Oh so all of our AC isn't working in NC," another quipped.

Others said the problem extended beyond North Carolina.

"No bro literally virginia too," one commenter wrote. "Woke up and my house was at 80," 

Another shared just how brutal indoor heat can get: "It got to 96 in my apartment the other day because my hvac gave out (they fixed it and now it's back to 75)."

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