I don't own a Kamado, but only 8 nuggets seems a little light. I downloaded and read the Kamado owner's manual and it pretty much reads like any insulated charcoal smoker. It recommends only using lump charcoal, which is standard for Kamado and Big Green Egg type smokers.
Think of loading charcoal in your smoker like putting gas in your car. Forget distance and just think time. If you only put in 1 quart of gas, it won't last long. Fill it up, and you can go for hours.
Temperature in a smoker is like speed in a car. Say you put in 1/4 tank of gas in your car. If you drive really fast that gas won't last as long as driving really slow. Charcoal is the same way with temperature. At higher temps the same load of charcoal won't last as long as it will at lower temps.
Temperature you control with air flow through the smoker, which the DigiQ does for you. More air, hotter temps. Less air, lower temps.
My suggestion would be to load your Kamado with say 1/2 load of charcoal and do a dry run, no food. That way you can get used to how your equipment works without wasting any food. Fire it up according to the instructions then set your DigiQ at say 225F to 250F, your choice. Let it stabilize for 30 minutes or so. Then open the grill up for 30 seconds to simulate spritzing meat. Close it up and watch what the DigiQ does to stabilize your temps again.
Then run your DigiQ up to say 300F and let it stabilize. Then 350F. You'll probably have to open your top vent more the higher you go in temperature.
You'll have your fuel loading and temp control down in no time.