A power factor corrector is connected to an AC power source, to provide a first DC voltage. A DC-DC converter supplies the first DC voltage from the power factor corrector to a primary winding of a transformer. A first rectifying/smoothing circuit rectifies and smoothes a voltage generated by a secondary winding of the transformer and supplies the rectified-and-smoothed voltage to a load. A second rectifying/smoothing circuit rectifies and smoothes a voltage generated by a control winding of the transformer. A light-load detector detects if an output ripple of the second rectifying/smoothing circuit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, determines upon detection that the switching operation has decreased the frequency thereof or has shifted to an intermittent oscillation, and stops the power factor corrector.