i just had hickory floors installed in my house about two months ago and the electric radiator heaters i have seem to have shrunk and slightly warped the boards under and around the heaters. is this normal and my mistake for using that type of heater or is this something that the flooring guy did wrong in the installation process?

this never happened when i had a place that had oak floors (those floors were probably 50+ years old though).

Heat dries out and shrinks wood... Period.

yeah i kinda figured that would be the answer.

Out of curiosity do you have any idea why it didn't happen to the old floors i had?

Hickory is a mover... less stable than oak.

bummer, i wish someone had mentioned that when i chose them. they look fantastic though, i love the light color of them.

i am having a central air/heating system installed soon. I shouldn't have to much trouble with that should I?

You say some boards are slightly warped , do you mean crowned in the center? Was the flooring brought in early to equalize before installing?

See what your RH is right now. If the air is too dry you could try running a humidifier for awhile to see if the boards close up any. If it works you may need to add a humidistat on your new HVAC system.

If the gapping problem is isolated to the heat register areas, there is not problem with the installation or the wood.
Should there be gapping throughout the install and larger than 1/32",,, you may have a problem.