Aiming at the problems of large energy consumption and serious pollution of winter heating existing in the rural buildings in Southern Xinjiang, a combined active-passive heating system was proposed, and the simulation software was used to optimize the parameters of the system, according to the parameters obtained from the optimization, a test platform was built and winter heating test was carried out. The simulation results showed that the thickness of the air layer of 75 mm, the total area of the vent holes of 0.24 m2, and the thickness of the insulation layer of 120 mm were the optimal construction for the passive part; solar collector area of 28 m2,hot water storage tank volume of 1.4 m3, mass flow rate of 800 kg/h on the collector side, mass flow rate of 400 kg/h on the heat exchanger side, and output power of auxiliary heat source of 5∼9 kW were the optimal constructions for active heating system. Test results showed that during the heating period, the system could provide sufficient heat to the room under different heating modes, and the indoor temperature reached over 18°C, which met the heating demand. The economic and environmental benefits of the system were analyzed, and the economic benefits of the system were better than coal-fired heating, and the CO2 emissions were reduced by 3,292.25 kg compared with coal-fired heating. The results of the study showed that the combined active-passive heating system could effectively solve the heating problems existing in rural buildings in Southern Xinjiang, and it also laid the theoretical foundation for the popularization of the combined heating systems. © 2024, Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.