The present invention relates to a driver device (10) for driving a load (18), in particular an LED (18) unit having one or more LEDs, comprising input terminals (14, 16) for connecting the driver device (10) to a voltage supply (12) and for receiving an input voltage (V10) from the voltage supply (12), an output terminal for connecting the driver device (10) to the load (18), an converter unit (24) for converting a drive voltage to an output (V20) voltage for powering the load (18), a switching unit (20, 22) connected to the input terminals (14, 16) for providing different voltage levels as the drive voltage to the converter unit (24), and a control unit (28) for controlling the switching unit (20, 22) on the basis of an electrical converter signal (V12; V13; I12; I13) measured at a member (30, 36) of the converter unit (24) and a reference signal (Vth) having an alternating component to provide an out put signal (V20) having an alternating signal component on the basis of the alternating component of the reference signal (Vth).