Old wiring and Z-wave switched: No Neutral. Any options?

[JDRoberts]

Totally unsafe to power from the ground instead of the neutral. Definitely not a good idea.

FAQ: Neutral and Ground Wires are not Interchangeable

Don’t want to turn this thread into something else but I highly doubt it any decent electrician would say it’s ok even off the record. A ground is not a neutral period. The last thing you want is the chassis of your washer as a current carrying conductor. If your house has a bonded neutral and ground then it should be at only at one connector and that is your circuit breaker panel and nowhere else. This is actually a huge safety issue.

As far as branching a neutral from a nearby device, that can indeed be done both safely and to code just depending on the exact wiring set up. @Navat604 or one of the other electricians in the community can explain more about that option.