The well-known thermal-pulse technique is based on the temporal change of the temperature distribution in an electret sample; the resulting non-uniform thermal expansion in the sample volume leads to an electrical signal which contains information on the charge or polarization profile. Here, a new method is proposed in which known charge profiles (e.g. electron-beam-deposited charge layers) serve as probes for the temperature distribution as it develops after heat-pulse excitation of one of the sample electrodes. The principle of operation is described for both single- and double-side metalized samples and first experiments on electron-beam-charged Teflon FEP films are reported.