Water Heaters - Replacement element wattage/voltage

Hello all,

I bought a water heater repair pack at Home Depot because I plan to replace both elements and thermostats in a Reliance 40 gallon water heater. The elements are currently 3500W, 208V. However, the repair pack elements (that say fits most models Reliance and other brands) is 4500W, 240V. If I am replacing both electrical components/thermostats and the elements then I would think it doesn't matter if the voltage and wattage is different. Would it be completely ignorant of me to replace the old elements with the new, higher-wattage ones or not?

You can use the higher wattage elements if you have a 30 amp circuit to the water heater. The 3500 watt elements only require a 20 amp circuit.

Like said check the breakers and see if they are 30amp
Most heaters are called a fast 40 and have the 4500watt
elements in them

Thanks a lot for the advice. The breaker was a 30 amp, and I installed the new elements and thermostats yesterday. So far things seem to be working great!