The adoption of clean briquette heating technology with low-emission and low-cost technology path is one of the effective measures to achieve clean heating in underdeveloped rural areas of China, which can effectively solve the environmental pollution problems brought about by the burning of raw coal for heating. The emission reduction potential and economy of the two new types of civil square honeycomb briquettes when used with stoves specifically designed for them were evaluated. The results show that the emission factors of PM2.5 based on unit fuel mass of anthracite square honeycomb briquette and bituminous square honeycomb briquette are 0.09 and 0.43 g/kg, CO emission factors are 51.61 and 38.35 g/kg, NOx emission factors are 0.72 and 0.63 g/kg, respectively. Compared with raw coal, the anthracite square honeycomb briquette and the bituminous square honeycomb briquette reduce 96.16% and 81.64% of PM2.5, 85.15% and 88.97% of CO, and 53.25% and 59.09% of NOx, respectively. The sulfur fixation rate of anthracite square honeycomb briquette, bituminous square honeycomb briquette and raw coal are 61.55%, 70.76% and 20.93%, respectively. The square honeycomb briquettes produces lower PM2.5, CO and NOx emissions than raw coal, and has better sulfur fixation effect, which can effectively reduce SO2 emission. The emission reduction potential of the honeycomb briquettes is not only affected by the fuel properties, but also by the stove parameters such as feed mode, combustion mode, and air supply system. From an economic standpoint, the heating costs of using these honeycomb briquettes are comparable to that of using raw coal, primarily due to the wide range of raw materials available for their production bringing down their costs considerably. The combination of square honeycomb briquette and its special stoves has the advantages of stable combustion, high combustion efficiency and good emission reduction effect, which greatly reduces the cost pressure of users′ heating in winter, and provides an effective solution for the coal-fired clean heating work in the northern rural areas of China that do not have other clean heating forms due to economic conditions.