I dont understand why you keep insinuating that autoflowers will always yield more.[/(quote]
Aha. The misunderstanding is because I haven't insinuated that. You can get a shit grow out of autoflowers, too. And some strainss yield crap. I didn't say you will always get a better yield. I said you CAN get a better yield. Meanwhile you seem to keep insinuating that a better yield really isn't possible and that's the thing I find rather queer.
Take an indica and an autoindica of the same strain. veg the indica in the same tent you keep mother and other clones.
Put the vegged clone into flower the same time you start the autoflower. If they are the same strain they should yield roughly the same g/sqft...
So youre using ~2x the electricity for lighting (minus veg tent- which runs at lower wattage and eliminates need to buy seeds) to get roughly the same results.
Am I missing something?
Yes, you're missing something really really big here, man.
You can buy more electricity a LOT easier than you can buy more SPACE or more TIME. The glory of autoflowers, in my opinion is many fold but the PRIMARY attraction to me is that you can grow more in the SAME SPACE AND TIME, not that you can produce more for the same electric cost.
If you are a hobbyist, all that may matter is the cost of seeds and electricity but if your goal is PRODUCTION, you might be more concerned about the best bottom line for the resources you have available. And if you can use the same lights and same space 24 hours a day instead of 12 hours a day, it shouldn't take a stroke of genius to see how that just MIGHT provide some advantages one could leverage.
Your grow, your business, your choice.