Is it safe to have one of those modern, flat, free standing electric fires in front of a (fire retardant) MDF fireplace/chimney breast?
I have a fireplace that is very dated and ugly. I dont want to spend too much money having it demolished and re-plastered, so I'm wondering if it's possible to box it off with MDF and then put an electric fire in front of it. I saw one in B&Q that sort of looks like a television that would be freestanding on the marble hearth and wouldn't need to be fixed onto the mdf itself.
Is there a huge amount of heat that comes out of the back of the electric fires nowadays and would it be a fire risk or does most of it get blown out of the front with fans?
I really don't want to spend a ton of cash but I don't want to set my house on fire either

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I'm thinking more of a fire that stands on the hearth and not one attached to the wall. I just want to make sure that if I have MDF behind the fire that stands on the hearth, it won't burn the place down !

These people make fireproof MDF -

http://www.spanogroup.be/products.aspx?lang=en&menu=135

I think it depends on the design of the fire. You should check with the supplier when you buy the fire whether it is suitable for placing against a wooden wall.

I would imagine a radiant heater would be better than a convector heater. The hot air would perhaps heat the wood above it. A fan assisted one would probably be designed to throw the heat out of the front too, but can be noisy.

If it is standing against just in front of the MDF, you can check to see how warm it gets behind it. If the back remains cool, you can move it closer.