problem with electric water heater-Fixed but new problem

Well, the easiest and cheapest option is to change the heating element and see if that fixes the issue. You're looking at about $12 for that. Or you could check the resistance of the heating element, and see how that compares to a normal element. I've read that it should be around 16 ohms.

I don't know how much the thermostat is, but if the element is good, that would indicate it is the thermostat.