When their power went out the day after Christmas, Brett Markum and his wife, Sheri Hohmann, took it in stride. "I had a feeling it would be off for a while, so I started prepping the food while it was still light," Brett said.

That evening they dined on shrimp fettuccine in the glow of candlelight.

The couple weathered the outage, which for them lasted about 76 hours, by cooking on their gas stove and turning on their gas fireplace insert, which they knew how to operate manually. Even without the electric blower, it kept the main floor of their cozy home warm. "Without the fireplace (insert), I don't think we could have done it," he said.

They conserved hot water by showering at a neighbor's house and a fitness club. "We kept the hot water for hand washing. We kept it all the way through," said Brett.

Other Wasatch Front residents coped with the outage differently: they moved in with relatives or checked into a hotel.

The key to dealing with an extended power outage, say experts, is to assess your situation ahead of time and have a plan in mind. Like a Boy Scout, you should be prepared.

"It's a good thing to look ahead and think of possibilities to be prepared," said Gary Wise, the state fire marshal.

Wise, for example, would use both of the fireplaces in his home to keep the pipes from freezing during an extended outage. He has a 1,500-watt generator that he would plug into the refrigerator to keep food cold.

Michael R. Pickrell, owner of Rocky Mountain Stove & Fireplace, has a free-standing gas stove that generates the electricity it needs to work. "You don't have to do anything different during a power outage," he said.

The moral of the story: Acquaint yourself with your home-heating equipment ahead of time so you know how they work during a power outage, or whether they would work at all.

Questar Gas says you should never use your gas stove top or gas oven as a source of heat.

If your stove top has an electronic ignition, which won't work during a power outage, you can still use the burners for cooking by holding a match to a burner to ignite the flame.

Other things to consider:

If you have a gas fireplace insert, does it work without electricity? Typically, an insert with a continually operating pilot light will work during a power outage. One with an electronic ignition, on the other hand, probably won't help you. "If you're buying a gas insert, make sure you're comfortable with the way it operates if the power goes out," advises Darren Shepherd, spokesman for Questar Gas.