Ditto on the power panel, from a frozen Canuck. 1.2V NiCAD plug lighters are "fair weather" devices, and if anything is off they just plain suck. And it sounds like you are kind of new to glow engines so this is complicating things for you. I got pissed off at NiCAD clip on igniters about 3 days after I first used one, and haven't bothered with them in ages. If someone gave me one as a gift, I'd thank them and give it to someone else later.

With a power panel, I turn the juice down low and hook up the plug outside of the engine where I can see the filament. Then I crank it up to a nice bright orange (Not white orange! Plug go poof soon!) setting. This ensures you have a nice hot element, and safely takes care of differences between plugs too.

If it's really cold, a thermos of hot water you can trickle over the cylinder - obviously not into the carb or on anything sensitive to getting wet - to warm it up sure helps.

Or what I do - never fly in the cold..

MJD