Numerous rural houses in the severe cold region of China have high heating demand, poor envelope thermal performance and inefficient heating systems, which all contribute to high heating expenses. Chinese Kangs (heated beds as living and sleeping platforms) and coal boilers with water-based radiators are the traditional heating systems in this area. They mainly operate intermittently and are controlled manually, which causes significant temperature variations and poor thermal comfort. This study aims to figure out the performance differences between intermittent and continuous heating modes of the traditional heating systems in rural houses. In addition, envelope renovation is one solution to reduce energy consumption and improve indoor climate, further comparisons were then conducted between pre- and post-renovation houses. A single-family detached rural house in Harbin was applied as a case building, representing the typical condition of similar houses in this climate. The simulation model was created using the validated simulation tool IDA ICE. The renovation plans were selected based on the multi-objective optimization results conducted by AutoMOO. The obtained results demonstrate that the lifecycle cost-minimum renovation solutions outperform the solutions based on standard requirements in both economic and environmental aspects. It is also found that the effect of envelope renovation on rising average temperature and decreasing occupied time at low thermal comfort level is more obvious when utilizing intermittent heating rather than continuous heating. This study conducts the comparison between multi-objective optimized renovation solutions and direct standard-based solutions, and evaluating the effectiveness of envelope renovation on rural houses with different heating modes. These findings could be generalized to other areas with similar building performance and severe cold climates.