We had this water heater installed when we bought our house 4 years ago and have had no problems untill now.  Unfortunatly the heating element went out, when i went to buy a replacement i found i couldnt buy one. So i called around in all the surrounding areas and sears stores, again with no luck. No sears store carries a replacement element.  I also sopke with 3 service companies who stated to me that the replacement elements (off brand) would not work in the kenmore brand.  I found the only way to get a replacement element was to go online or call the sears parts and service department. ...