Hello and welcome! We had the same size fiberglass pool put in last year. I believe the equipment manufacturers will give you an additional warranty if you have all the same equipment. We have an all-Jandy setup.

We're on the basic side as well... pump, cartridge filter and AquaPure salt system. Color-changing LED's are (IMHO) a must. We also didn't install a heater. We're in Central Jersey, and the water hit 83 degrees yesterday (and it's still early in the season). The white fiberglass pool + direct sun for hours really heats it up. You didn't say where you're located. Salt system works very well. We purchase our 40lb bags of Morton's Pool Salt at Walmart for around $5.00 each. We don't have a variable pump, but the boss (my wife) says the electric bill hasn't increased that much during the summer. We have central air, but elect to use the ceiling fans instead because... we've got the pool. (And yes, it's normal to take a quick dip before bed to cool off!)

Don't know if this helps any... do research on what you want (and it sounds like you just want the basics, which will be easier to compare apples to apples), check BBB listings for the pool builders in your area FIRST... then the ones that check out, invite them to come over to give you a free estimate. Have a list of all items that you want, and make sure it's written down on the estimate!!! Ask for references from each builder, then... relax and take a few days to decide which builder is in your budget. If you find one you like, go visit the references, and ask questions like "What would you have done differently", and "What DON'T you like about your pool", etc. If you're satisfied, Call the pool company back and invite them to send a salesperson over.

Don't turn a company away if they don't add in a particular item, of if one's pricing (of the company you like) is a bit over the other's. You will most likely not be able to get them to lower the pricing, but a lot of us here were able to ADD additional items to our contract, and keep the price the same. I was able to get my Jandy AquaPure salt system, control panel and PDA-P4 remote control for free when it came down to signing the contract.

Take your time, think of this as the "planning year", so don't rush and think you'll be swimming early this season. Do things right at the start, and ask lots of questions here. We've all been in the same boat, and are here to help each other!

Thanks for the input. We are in the the Nashville Area (a little north).
The builder of my house is a good friend of mine, and usually only does custom homes in the 1MM+ (around here that is like 10,000 sq ft homes - and is different than when we lived in MD/DC). Mine is not that big, and he did build ours as a friend. He set everything up including a bathroom that can be accessed off our porch, because we knew we wanted a pool in the future. He also ran a 220 off our garage for the pool equipment (located away from bedroom, as he knows the sound may bother us at night).

I am getting his input and may even work through him because most of his houses have pools and he knows all the PB or at least who to work with and who not to work with.

Do you have 1 or 2 of the led lights?

2 led's. With a white fiberglass pool, it fills up nicely with color. Any larger, and we would've probably needed three (pool is freeform with lots of potential shadowy areas).