Power consumption in a start-up circuit for a LED-based light bulb may be reduced by digitally switching a transistor of the start-up circuit coupled to the input voltage. When the transistor is digitally switched between on and off, a reduced amount of power is dissipated by the transistor, because it may not enter a saturation region of operation where the resistance of the transistor between drain and source terminals increases. The transistor may be coupled to a voltage regulator for generating one or more output voltages, including a supply voltage for a host controller IC. The transistor may be switched on and off by a digital signal generated by logic circuitry, which may decide to switch the transistor on and off based on a voltage level at an output of the voltage regulator.