Abstract Piezoelectric devices respond to temperature variations in a changing temperature environment. The temperature-induced voltage generation of piezoelectric sensors can be further divided into two major components: the pyroelectric effect and the thermal strain effect. In this study, these two temperature-induced components of distributed piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) sensors are compared using a new 3-D thin piezothermoelastic solid finite element. A piezoelectric laminated square plate is used in a case study. Analyses suggest that the pyroelectric effect of PVDF sensors is much more prominent than the thermal strain effect. However, the PZT sensors exhibit the opposite phenomena. Distributed control of the plate with a temperature-induced deflection is also demonstrated.