The development of the gapless metal oxide (ZnO) surge arrester has presented the arrester engineer with new materials and an opportunity for new designs. This situation arises because the gapless surge arrester is electrically active throughout its lifetime whereas its predecessor, the silicon carbide arrester, was electrically passive being electrically isolated with gap structures. The prime consideration is one of reliably estimating the lifetime of a gapless ZnO surge arrester under continuous ac stress while maintaining the capability not only to limit surge voltages but also to absorb energy inputs resulting from lightning or switching surges and temporary overvoltages. In this paper we establish a procedure for reliably estimating the lifetime of gapless metal oxide surge arresters for ac application by incorporating the device characteristics into design requirements. This method is illustrated for metal oxide surge arrester elements that exhibit a predictable linear resistive current versus time1/2 behavior as a function of applied voltage and temperature.