A few tricks that worked for me during prolonged power outages:

In cold weather, the gas was still flowing, I put several pots of water on the stove and boiled them during the cold night - created lasting heat better than just turning on a burner. Close all doors of non essential rooms and have your family all sleep in one room to conserve heat.

I purchased a high wattage inverter and a couple 12 volt batteries to power it. I then created a "jumper cable" from the inverter to an electric outlet at the circuit breaker box. I turned off the main breaker and any other non-essential breakers that would overload the inverter, then plugged the "jumper" from the inverter output into the electric outlet. This provided power from the inverter throughout the house, which then was ditributed to lights and minor appliances. You're limited by the power output of the inverter and how long the batteries can last. Batteries can be recharged using a car - which can also power the inverter directly if needed. (saved my basement from flooding by providing enough power for the sump pump.) Alternatively, a generator can be used to provide power to the house with this method.

If you don't know what you are doing electrically, I don't suggest you try this.